#and the fact that all five of them are together to form the best band of weirdos around?

[baldrickwhethers]

RARHGHGHGHGHH I'VE FINALLY CAUGHT UP ON SEASON 3 AND IM SO MAD AND HAPPY AND RHGRHGHRGHRHGRHGH

[sturnsdarling]

teenage dirtbags, introduction

Skater!Matt needs help with his essay, and Overachiever!reader is the smartest girl on campus

vibe check: enemies(?) to lovers au, childhood acquaintances, no warnings this is just a blurb to set up the vibes.

1k words

A/N: This is just the intro to what I plan on being at least a five part series. I don't ship blair and dan but lowkey this is them (i've fallen down an edit rabbit hole and now i kinda ship them lol)

part one, part two , part three

love and cigs, merc

You and Matt had never really liked each other, you were completely different people, and despite going through every grade together, and somehow ending up at the same college, you definitely wouldn't classify yourself as friends, or even acquaintances. Honestly, you couldn't stand him, with his boyish charm, eye watering smile and breezy attitude, he was insufferable.

Matt was interesting, to say the least. You never saw him without his head phones in and feet planted firmly on his skateboard. His wardrobe seemed to consist solely of dirty band tees, cargos that didn't fit him and beat up sneakers. He was the furthest thing from a scholar, his idea of an extra curricular activity being how many screws he could loosen in the Deans office before the man had a brain haemorrhage over his chair or desk falling apart every other day. Every grade he got was just above average, 'consistently uninspiring', as he called it, and despite the fact that he was actually quite smart, he never wanted to be anything other than exactly that, average.

You on the other hand, we're almost the exact opposite. Your grades were the highest in the entire college, the best they'd seen in years, actually. You ran multiple clubs, were the president of not one, but two societies; philosophy and classic literature; and tutored everyone from under to postgrads. You were clean cut and classic, pleated skirts with knee high socks and a collared shirt, tucked under a vintage sweater was your personal uniform; you looked as smart as you were. You were every schools dream, painfully smart and ridiculously driven, everyones favourite over achiever. From the bows in your hair, to the Plato or Dostoyevski tucked in your arms, all the way down to your vintage platform loafers, you were extraordinary.

The day it all started,

Your books were tucked neatly in size order against your chest, hair tucked behind your ears and knee socks tight against the bottom of your thighs as you headed to your second lecture of the day. The halls of the literature building were as busy as you'd expect it to be on a Wednesday, filled with people all going about their days and trying to sound as smart as possible in front of their new pretentious friends.

The sound of skateboard wheels against the brown linoleum echoed behind you, followed by the huffs and puffs of said pretentious people.

Matt rode through the halls, swerving through the students with ease as he tried to catch up with you, eyes trained on the way your hips moved in your pleated skirt. He called your name, and the sound of his voice made your eyes roll to the back of your head, so you kept walking.

Matt picked up his speed, pushing off with his leg to reach you. he called your name again, this time as he pulled up next to you, kicking his board up and holding it in his hand, jogging slightly to walk shoulder to shoulder with you.

"you walk way too fast" Matt said, only slightly breathless.

"people tend to do that when they have somewhere to be" you said, attitude thick in your voice as you kept your eyes trained on your destination.

Matt was looking at you, grinning at your consistency in hating him.

"where ya headed?" He said, stepping in front of you with a light jog, walking backwards and finally gaining your eye contact.

You huffed, a faux smile forming on your face in response to his cheesy grin.

"what do you want, Matt" you said, continuing your pace and slightly impressed at Matts ability to walk backwards without bumping into anyone.

"how do you know I want something?" Matt shrugged, squinting his eyes at you in bashful accusation.

"because we haven't had a conversation in... three years? and you look like you want something" You stopped walking, tilting your head to the side, "so what is it?" you looked him up and down quickly.

Matt pressed his tongue to his teeth with a smile, stopping in front of you, "I need your head"

Your face screwed up instantly, "I beg your pardon?" you scoffed.

Matt chuckled, shaking his head and rubbing the back of his neck with his palm, "not like that, I mean, I need your brain"

You cocked your eyes to the side, waiting for him to say words that actually made sense, "I'm gonna need a bit more clarity than that, Matt"

"I need your help with an essay" Matt said, biting his plump lip slightly with pleading eyes.

"no" you shook your head with a scoff, stepping out from his figure blocking your path and continuing your stride down the hall.

"come on, y/l/n, please?" He jogged after you, "I'm desperate", gently pressing his shoulder against yours.

"why would I ever help you?" you scoffed, looking straight ahead and ignoring the sentiment of him still calling you by your last name after all these years.

"cause I'm desperate" Matt was looking at your profile, repeating his earlier claim, "and we're friends"

you scoffed again, "we are not friends, Matt" you said, rolling your eyes.

Matt searched his brain for an example of your friendship but came up blank, "okay, fine, we're not friends" he grinned, "but we've known each other forever and.... it's nice to help people" it was the only thing he could think of.

You ignored him, shaking your head with an uncontrollable smile attempting to form on your face at his persistence. Matt continued to walk with you, begging, pleading and saying your last name over and over again like an irritating child, telling you that you're the smartest person he knows, and that he'll fail without your help.

"whats the essay on" you rolled your eyes, giving in and looking to him.

"existentialism" Matt said, his ears perking up at your interest.

You huffed, stopping once more. People continued to rush past you and Matt as you stood face to face in the centre of the hall.

"if I help you, you'll leave me alone?" You questioned.

"absolutely" Matt nodded

you rolled your tongue over your teeth, deadpanning at Matt.

"fine" you said, bluntly.

"yes!" Matt cheesed, "you are an angel sent from heaven, thank you"

"come to my dorm tonight, seven o'clock and we'll get started" blatantly ignoring his compliment.

"I'll be there" Matt said, placing his board on the floor.

"it's the franklin building, room three, if you cant find it then i'l-" The sound of Matts wheels rolling away cut you off.

"i'll just follow the smell of vanilla and academic overachievement, I'll find you" Matt said from over his shoulder, skating away from you down the hall.

You rolled your eyes as you watched him weave in and out of students, dropping out of sight as he rode his board down the flight of stairs to the exit.

taglist: @sturniozalt@mattslolita@shaquilles-0atmeal@blahbel668@sleepysturniolo@le4hsblog @sarosfilms @joemamaaa42069 @2muchofaslvt @seluky10 @cherib3lla @jetaimevous @witchofthehour

[sinning5sos]

valentine | Luke

Requested: yeah baby! could you write a smut abt dom!luke and fem!reader, where they’ve been best friends for years and have had just the thickest romantic and sexual tension, and luke brings y/n on tour and while she’s front row dancing and just like feeling herself to valentine, luke finds it like super hot and after the show he finally does something about the tension between the two of them. i love your work and i think you’d be the perfect person to write this!”

tysm, i love you

fucking sick idea

Word Count: ~2.2k

The music was pulsing through the arena, your eyes never leaving the lead singer, your best friend and you were so proud of him. You couldn’t believe that they were on another tour, and thankfully your schedule at work allowed you to travel with them for a few shows in the states. 

You loved getting to see Luke do what he does, the fact that you’ve known him since you were kids and have gotten to see him grow into the confident man that he is, it made you ecstatic.

You’ve been a part of Luke’s life for a long time, you loved him dearly. The two of you became mates way back when you were just in your first year of school. The two of you had been stuck together since then, often spending time with the other. It was insane when Luke had started getting views on his covers, and even crazier when the band formed and started getting famous. 

When the band moved to the states, you couldn’t imagine not having him only five minutes away but Luke practically begged you to follow along. Luckily, you found a job nearby and your schedule was flexible for the most part. 

Honestly you didn’t even know how many times you had seen them perform at this point, but you knew that it just continued to get better every single time. 

His eyes found yours as they continued performing Valentine, one of your favorites from them. Luke’s vocals always killed, and tonight he was on fire again. You sang along, a small smile on his lips as he maintained eye contact.

“Got nothing but love for you, fall more in love every day. Valentine, valentine.” 

You zoned out as you continued dancing along, your hips moving gently to the beat as the song continued on. You felt a gaze on you, and looked up as Luke sang, it felt as if directly to you, his eyes burning into yours.

“It don't matter just as long as I get all you tonight”

You blushed as the song continued, and he sent you a cheeky wink as the crowd continued chanting along. Luke’s gaze moved away from you, and you lost yourself in thought. 

It could've been unintentional. It could’ve just been Luke being himself, a little flirt. It could’ve been something more. You were never sure with Luke, you never wanted to push the friendship past what it is.

The others always pointed out that the two of you flirted with each other, your other friend pointed out that it was annoyingly adorable how much the two of you looked at each other or how handsy the two of you were. Sure, there were drunken kisses or cuddling during movies or the occasional shared bed. You always knew you loved Luke, you just didn’t know what sort of love.

The concert wrapped up quickly, your thoughts swimming due to that tiny wink from him earlier. You were already backstage, in his dressing room and sat on the couch waiting for him to finish up. He always had his post show ritual, where as soon as he was off that stage, he was taking a shower and finding a way for his body to relax.

After a few minutes, the door finally opened and Luke pushed through the entryway. He immediately smiled as he dove onto the couch beside you. You curled right into his side, his arm wrapping around you instinctively. His fingers grazing the exposed skin on your shoulder. You sighed, feeling content as you leaned even further into him.

“How was the show?”

“Amazing as always Lu,” You said, turning in his arms so your head was now laying in his lap. He shifted his arm so it was across your chest and he held your gaze.

“It’s one thing to know that you’re always there in the audience but it was another to see you that close tonight. Dancing along to the music, you looked beautiful.” He murmured, and you felt your cheeks blush.

“I’m serious, I don’t say it enough.” He whispered and your blush deepened, “I don’t say a lot of things enough. God, you looked fucking incredible tonight.”

“Luke,” You sat up and turned to face him, about to say something but he pulled you close to him. He moved closer to you, his movements hesitant as his nose nudged against yours. You didn’t stop him.

“I need you,” He murmured against your skin, his lips barely leaving as he trailed down your neck and you whimpered into the empty dressing room, “Now.”

You nodded, your arms wrapping around him as you pulled him closer into you.

“I’m in, but I need to know that this won’t change us.”

“It’s going to change us, but for the better. Seeing you in the front, seeing you dance along to our music, it made me realize what I’ve always known all along. Why I begged you to move with us, why I need you with me on the tour.”

“I just need you,” He whispered, his lips finally meeting yours and he nearly melted into you. You tangled your fingers in his hair, holding him as close to you as possible and all thoughts were gone as the two of you continued kissing. This wasn’t the same type of kiss as before, there was something deeper there.

“Say yes,” He murmured, his nose nudging yours and you nodded, “Out loud. I can’t move on with myself if you’re not as into this as I am.”

“God, yes Luke, of course.” You whispered to him, and his lips met yours again. His kiss became more desperate, and his hands moved to the straps on your shirt and pushed them down. You leaned your body into him, quickly removing the top and suddenly feeling exposed beneath him.

“Fuck,” He breathed out, and you laughed at him as your fingers continued twirling in his hair.

“You’ve seen me in a swimsuit before Lu,” 

“Yeah but this is different. I get to finally act on every thought I’ve ever had,” He muttered, pulling his own shirt off as well. You unclasped your bra and pulled him back into you, your hands rubbing his shoulders and across his back as he trailed kisses down your chest. His teeth grazed over your nipple and you gasped quietly. This all felt so surreal, but damn it did he feel great.

He pushed your skirt up with his free hand, grazing your center slightly and your hips jolted into his touch. 

“So eager for you,” You whispered and he chuckled as he pulled your panties down and tossed them behind the couch. 

“Can I touch you?”

“Lu, I am entirely yours. Stop asking me, and just touch me.”

“Yes ma’am,” He murmured and you giggled as he kissed the inside of your knee and slowly trailed upward to your inner thigh, then to your exposed pussy. He kissed just above your core, his touch so light and you were craving more.

“Luke, just fuck me please.” You whimpered, and he paused to look at you. He licked his lips and nodded, before pushing himself down on the couch to adjust to a more comfortable position. 

“I will, just need to taste you first.” He muttered, and you were worried that he was going to be hesitant again but quickly started eating you out as if you were his last meal. He groaned as he pulled back for a second, before his tongue circled around your clit and your thighs twitched at how fucking good he felt. 

His tongue dipped inside of you, his nose nudging your clit as he continued eating you out. He pushed a finger inside of you and you threw your head back against the arm rest at finally feeling him. He pushed in another, and you felt yourself adjust to his touch as his tongue continued. 

“Fuck,” You breathed out and he winked at you again as he continued to eat you out and finger fuck you. Only an hour ago he was winking at you as well, and now look at how much things have changed.

“Gonna cum soon,” You moaned, and he added a third finger. At this point, you didn’t need to be warmed up anymore, and your orgasm was quickly approaching. Between everything that’s happened, you felt your thighs began to shake and you quickly came all over his face. 

You whimpered as he continued licking, nearly slurping and relaxed when he finally backed up. He sat up and made a big show of wiping his arm across his face and chuckled.

“Taste fucking sweet there darling,” He muttered and you giggled as you leaned up to kiss him, “But now I want to fuck you.”

“I want you bent over this counter so you can see how fucking hot you look while I’m fucking you,” He muttered, and your eyes widened at the sudden change. You licked your lips and nodded, taking his hand as he helped you up off the couch and pulled you towards the counter. 

“Just like that,” He whispered as he guided you, and helped bend you over the counter and pushed your dress up as his fingers pushed into you again. You moaned loudly,  your body adjusting quickly to him. He felt so right, and you moaned again as he curled his fingers inside of you.

“Need your cock Lu,” You grunted, and he chuckled as he pulled his hand out of you and sucked on his fingers again. 

“Taste so fucking good.” He said, before pulling his cock out from his pants but he panicked for a second, your eyes on him in the mirror, “Condom?”

“I’ve had my birth control shot, and I’m clean.” You whispered, and his eyes widened as he caught your gaze. You nodded, as if to encourage him and he groaned as his palms rubbed over your hips. 

“Fucking dream. I’m clean too, but I’ll do my best to pull out too.” He muttered, and you smiled as he stroked himself gently. He pushed in the tip, and you pushed yourself back to take more of him. He moaned quietly, his head falling back in pleasure as he was nearly fully inside of you, “You feel so good,”

“Just fuck me,” You whimpered, and he slowly pulled back out before he pushed inside of you fully. You could feel all of him inside you know, your body adjusting to him quickly and you desperately needed some friction. 

His hands moved so they were gripping both sides of your hips, and you hoped that his fingers left marks for you to admire later. He started fucking you with more of an intensity now, his cock slamming into you with every thrust and the fact that you got to watch everything in the mirror was so fucking hot.

“Look at me,” He snapped, his fingers digging into your sides as you caught his gaze in the mirror, “Such a good fucking girl.” 

For a moment, the only sounds that echoed in the dressing room were his hips meeting yours and his quiet moans from behind you. You held onto the counter as you felt your legs growing weak and put your weight onto the top. Luke continued fucking you, and you felt your orgasm approach quickly. 

“Gonna cum for me?” He murmured, his hand reaching around to your clit and his middle and ring finger started to rub it in circles.

You nodded, words failing you as you pushed your back against his chest, your gazes locked on each other as he continued to finger your clit and thrust into you. Your orgasm crashed over you, and he moaned as he continued fucking you through the wave of pleasure.

You nearly collapsed into his arms, and he helped you move slightly. You knelt in front of him, your hand replacing his as you started to stroke. 

“Now are you going to cum for me?” You whispered, winking up at him and he chuckled as he nodded. Luke gripped onto the counter behind you as you continued stroking him, and his cock twitched slightly before he came, doing his best to aim for your mouth but spilling down the front of your chest.

His eyes closed for a moment, his relief washing over his face as his legs buckled and you smiled up at him. You brought your fingers down to your chest and dragged some of his cum up into your mouth and he rolled his eyes as he handed you a tissue and helped clean you up.

“Come on baby, come sit on the couch with me.” He murmured, pressing a kiss to your forehead then helped you up to your feet and guided you over to the couch. 

“Why didn’t we do this sooner?” You whispered, your arm lazily coming to wrap around him and he chuckled as he pressed a kiss to your forehead.

“The wait was worth it,”

[jokeroutsubs]

📝ENG Translation: 🆕 Bojan Cvjetićanin's interview for May 2024 issue of OnaPlus magazine.

Article written by Daša Mavrič, published in OnaPlus magazine on 03.05.2024. English translation by TT katysmusic77 proofread by IG GBoleyn123.

🗨 Bojan Cvjetićanin, Joker Out: I wasn't at ease on stage for quite a long time

The calendar causes them a lot of issues, Bojan from Joker Out admits in conversation. In one year, the boys experienced things that most of us don't get to experience in our entire lifetime. How can someone avoid mixing up the sequence of events?! Bojan Cvjetićanin is currently in Germany with Kris Guštin, Nace Jordan, Jan Peteh and Jure Maček, where they are recording their third album.

In a long distance conversation he only confirmed his professionalism, which they agreed upon simultaneously with their performance at Eurovision. "We very quickly and unanimously decided to take on the rock'n'roll lifestyle properly; for us to enjoy it, for our fans to enjoy it and to be able to enjoy it for more than a month," Bojan says.

We're talking during your process of recording the album in Hamburg, just before that, you finished the tour. The band members really spend a lot of time together. How has your relationship evolved during all the years of being in a band?

BC: The current line-up is not the original one, we switched two members. But the fact is that the intense band life began two years ago, when both new members had already joined the band. So our common home, so to speak, has only existed for about a year. A lot has changed in fact. I believe we don't even notice all of it, nor do we think about it, because we are together all the time and we filter through the changes regularly.

If I look back, I see that the relationship between us became extremely, extremely tight and a mutual trust has been formed, which can only be built when you spend as much time with someone as we do with each other. The line between our relationships has been blurred. What I'm trying to say is that the line blurred between being a friend, a band member, a colleague, it all became one thing. We are essentially a sort of organism, which evolves and changes together.

The growth of each individual is very dependent on the other four members. We really have been through a lot together; even the biggest moments of shock, which influence our feelings and thoughts, happened to us collectively, we were never alone. We have become very dependant opon one another.

Your pace of life would firstly be ascribed to a professional athlete, rather than a rockstar. And to me it seems you have set out on your career in this way consciously. There's probably no drinking, late nights out?

BC: When we started the first two Europen tours it very quickly became apparent that what we are doing is a lot more serious than people would imagine. At least for us, this is the most fun job in the world, as we get to create and play music for the people who love us. And we love them as well. Together we share these lovely feelings, which is the coolest part of this job. If we want to do this long term and at a high level, we knew that we had to take it seriously.

When you have 22 concerts in one month, you of course think that everyone who bought a ticket to your concert deserves your best performance. When you're living at an extremely demanding pace for a month, late nights out and similar things are a completely unnecessary stress and distraction for your body. We very quickly and unanimously decided to take on the rock'n'rolll lifestyle in a proper way; for us to enjoy it, for our fans to enjoy it and to be able to enjoy it for more than a month.

In the podcast for N1¹ you openly talked about your panic attack. How have you been taking care of your mental health since that episode? ¹You can watch the N1 podcast with English subtitles on our YouTube channel!

BC: This happened to me last summer when, even though I was sick, we played five or six concerts in ten days. Tiredness and probably everything that had happened to us took its toll. After Eurovision, which ended in May, we didn't turn on the emotional part of our brain, because so many things were happening so quickly, we fell into work mode. The combination of all these emotions and events probably mixed together with tiredness and illness. I wasn't really at ease on stage and continued to not be at ease on stage for quite a long time, practically a whole year. But of course to a much lesser extent and less severely. The whole team made sure that it would happen as little as possible. The boys gladly took on the responsibilities for which my presence wasn't necessary and took that burden off my shoulders. I hardly had to deal with the logistics, the bureaucracy and I left it to those, who are better qualified for it. The boys in the band and our team always make sure that everyone feels at their maximum best.

On tours that are behind you, something really fascinating happened, the fans were singing with you in Slovene. We're speaking during your process of recording the new album in Germany. Does it even matter in which language you create music?

BC: On all the tours so far it turned out that for hour and a half, people are singing our lyrics. When some of our friends from Slovenia came to one of the concerts, they really couldn't fathom what was going on, because the people around them were talking in their own languages, but when we started singing, they sang together with us. On stage, we hardly hear any details in the pronunciation through all the noise, so we don't even have the feeling that the people who are singing don't speak Slovene otherwise. We felt very at home throughout all of Europe, which was quite magical.

Regarding the recording of the third album, the songs will be in the languages in which the idea for them was sparked. When it comes to the language in which the song is created, we really don't limit ourselves.

But I can tell you that the majority of the songs will be in Serbian and in Slovene, I doubt there will be more than two, maybe three songs in English.

Who is your favourite to win this year's Eurovision song contest?

BC: To be completely honest, I haven't looked into into this year's contestants a lot. I want to hear the songs for the first time when we watch Eurovision, which will be here in the studio. I was a host at the Eurovision pre-party in Madrid and there I heard some of the songs, but I consciously moved backstage to not hear them in their entirety. I want to experience it with a neutral outlook and base my opinion on what I hear for the first time, and not after I had been listening to a song for three months and maybe even met the artist in person.

But I absolutely strongly believe in our representative Sara. I know that she sings the song live really well. And that's very, very important. I know she has the stage presence, I saw the reaction from the public after her performance in Spain and that reaction was very positive.

For now, Raiven's performance is the only one that I saw in its entirety. I want to experience the rest when Eurovision happens.

How do you look back on your Eurovision experience after one year? You are in fact the first Slovenian representative that really took advantage of it in a completely different way.

BC: Eurovision completely changed our career and our lives. It's interesting that so many things happened to us since last year that we find it hard to perceive time. The calendar represents a big problem for us (laughter). We have problems evaluating what happened three months ago, what happened seven months ago and what happened two years ago. The events get a bit mixed up. If somebody told me that three years have passed since Eurovision, I would believe them.

We had a hectic lifestyle for half a year, we fell into an extremely unique universe, which you can only really believe if you're a part of Eurovision, or if you're an avid Eurovison fan who lives for Eurovision. And there's a lot of them.

Yeah, you fall into some kind of universe and you live in a bubble, completely isolated from your surroundings. We had a blast, we enjoyed it a lot, we met so many wonderful people. Since last year, we saw half of the representatives during the tours and all of them joined us on stage.

We know and we feel, that we did a good job. We are proud of what we have done, proud of what Eurovision enabled us to do. We worked really hard, all of it was very much filled with competitive spirit, but every single moment was worth it. When the opportunity for Eurovision presented itself to us, we knew we would take it full-on, or not at all.

[aftgficrec]

ack finally caught you guys open <333 thanks for all your work! I was wondering if you have any newer longer fics with realistic characterisation and writing (similar to profenity’s works maybe?) and also any non-fox Neil/andrew fics? Thank you!And sorry for the tall order;;🙏

You’ll find an abundance of non-fox andreil in our recent Staff Recs: Writers post. On our tags page under AUs, explore the shops and jobs sections or other themes from fantasy to band aus.

Fandom writer profenity is known for long, meaty explorations of canon characters and themes. Their ongoing WIP ‘The Unkindness of Ravens’ has more than 380k words and 12k+ kudos! Find it in this Raven!Neil to Fox ask under former writing name crazy_like_a. The author interacts with fans on tumblr @hopingforcoordinates. 

We’ve featured or referred to profenity’s ‘Lessons in Cartography’ and sequel ‘The Cartographer and the World’ in many asks. I’m listing some as a doorway to similar works. For something newer, try the Kevin-centric ‘A Falling Star’ series, featured here. If this answer seems cobbled together — it is. This is my subjective, limited attempt at catching lightning in a bottle. -A

check out other works in these asks that feature profenity’s ‘Lessons’ series:

must read fandom classics here

post canon continuation of The King’s Men here

Neil fights with Jack here

andreil exploring feelings, intimacy and sexuality here

in character andreil smut here

small selection of ‘not new’ recs:

‘Hold me close, in fact bury me’ and ‘Trust Fall (And Welcoming Arms)’ here

‘Black As Is The Raven, He’ll Get A Partner’ here

‘progress comes in small steps’ series here

‘Inked Truths’ series here

‘Baltimore Blues’ here

long recs for a return to fandom here

A Falling Star series by NikNak22 [Rated M/E, 245011 words, 3 complete works, Updated Nov 2023]

NB: the author credits inspiration to ‘To Be Certain We'll Be Tall Again’ by fullyvisible, featured here, now complete.

Part 1: Dead of Night (E, 101589 words) It’s Kevin’s senior year at PSU, and things are…okay. But that changes when a single question from a nosy reporter sends his life spiraling. The descent is slow and maddening – memories and trauma from his past weave together to form the image of the man that stands there today. As Kevin begins to look around him with a new and critical eye, though, he’s no longer sure that man is who he wants to be. So the question is - when faced with the truth, is it a case of Kevin finally getting what he deserves? Or is it about time to prove a lot of people (including himself) wrong? Aka the fic that’s all about Kevin Day.

tw: torture, tw: abuse, tw: child abuse, tw: rape/noncon, tw: alcohol abuse, tw: psychological abuse, tw: depression, tw: self esteem issues, tw: body dysmorphia, tw: body shaming, tw: bullying, tw: assault, tw: homophobia, tw: racism,  tw: self harm

Part 2: Darkest Before Dawn (M, 52365) “This is finally it, isn’t it?” Jeremy whispers. “Oui,” Jean says softly on Kevin’s other side. “I believe it is.” And for a moment, they look so lost. Just two little boys about to go out and face the big, wide world. So Kevin searches until both of his hands find one of theirs. He doesn’t look at them, though he feels their gazes on him. He just breathes deeply and closes his eyes. Then he squeezes their hands as he tells them, “I can’t wait to see what you’ll do next.” AKA the highs and lows of Kevin’s life after graduation and into the Pros.

tw: self esteem issues, tw: panic attacks, tw: minor character death, tw: implied/referenced assault, tw: implied/referenced eating disorders

Part 3: In the Light of Day (E, 91057) It’s been almost five years since Kevin graduated from PSU. Five years that he's played Exy professionally. Five years since he’s learned to live on his own. Five years after discovering he’s in love with his best friends, former USC Trojans Jeremy Knox and Jean Moreau. Five years since he’s figured out, they will never love him back. So, when Jeremy and Jean invite him to their house for Christmas this year, he knows this is it. It’s the finale. The last hurrah. The swan song. The final act. It’s time he lets them go, lets this foolish, one-sided love go, once and for all. But he might find this is harder than he ever expected.

tw: depression, tw: bullying, tw: self esteem issues, tw: body dysmorphia, tw: imposter syndrome, tw: implied/referenced eating disorders, tw: gaslighting, tw: ptsd, tw: dissociation, tw: implied/referenced abuse

[wuxiaphoenix]

Worldbuilding: A Thought on Catgirls

First question: what kind of cats?

This is important because the vast majority of cat species are solitary predators. A mother teaches her kittens or cubs to hunt, and then they disperse. There are exceptions - lions living in prides, groups of cheetah males banding together to hold a territory so they can successfully chase down a female, individual cats of various species who form friendships with another of their kind, or even a different species altogether - but almost all cat species follow this template.

Housecats are the major exception to this rule. Domesticated or feral, housecats will live in large colonies wherever prey permits it, with even most toms being relatively social and not a danger to unrelated kittens.

(Most. Not all.)

So if your catgirl has any real cat instincts or behavior patterns, you need to know what kind of cat. The overly friendly and living-in-groups catgirl so stereotypical of harem setups would almost have to be lioness or housecat based. Maybe cheetah. Maybe. They can live a sort-of domesticated life as hunting animals, and have in centuries past. But they also tend to be verrrrrry nervous, as befits a relatively small predator trying to make a living where every lion, hyena, and leopard will not only steal their kill but kill and eat them in the bargain.

I invite you to picture the havoc wreaked by a perpetually nervous catgirl on everyone and everything in the vicinity. No, seriously, think about it. Unless your hero who befriends her has the absolute upbeat chill of the average golden retriever, she’d fret herself into nervous exhaustion and death.

Most harem heroes are not chill.

So. Housecat, likely your best bet. Although then you get to deal with the fact that the average housecat is, pound for pound, one of the most heavily armed mammals on the planet. As vets say, six ends, and five of them are pointy. A housecat scaled up to human size is essentially cougar-sized; a large cougar. Meaning their preferred prey size should be much the same... and cougars will take down moose.

You may be getting the idea that this should not be as fluffy and friendly a critter as anime would lead you to believe. And that doesn’t even get into the possibilities of opposable thumbs, magic, or modern weaponry.

Not to say that a more realistic catgirl couldn’t be good company! Of course she could. As long as there was good food, a warm place to cuddle in a sunbeam, and plenty of prey to chase, she’d probably be great company. She’d just also have a habit of borrowing your broadsword (or AK-47, or laser rifle) and leaving you alien-rhino-sized headless gifts to show you how loved you are. Or maybe even bringing them back partly alive; after all, you’ve got to keep your hunting skills sharp! It’s fun!

...I may be too Amused by this image. Thoughts?

[gamerbearmira]

Sooo, what if the Madrigals were a travelling circus?

Like, say Alma and Pedro were performers but from different circus families. Alma was a stunt woman/did very daredevil things and Pedro simply was a trapeze artist.

It was common for her and his family to compete against each other in different areas of the town they lived in. Their families knew each other pretty well, basically frenemy families.

Alma and Pedro were enemies to frenemies, frenemies to friends, then friends to lovers. After they became lovers (and married), they convinced their respective families to actually form one whole circus together.

After a WHOLE LOT of convincing their parents, they agreed, and became known as "Circo de magia familiar" (Circus of family magic). Everyone tried to get along the best they could and ended up pretty comfortable with each other.

Their big circus actually became more well known by half of Colombia and people started coming from all over the country. The whole Madrigal and Luz family became popular in under five years.

(I HC Alma's last name is Luz)

But with fame...comes its cons. Let's just say not everyone liked the circus family and well...you know what happened. The whole circus tent, train...just everything was destroyed.

You see, Alma and Pedro's family were full of bizarre people. Think the greatest showman if you've seen it. If not, think the bearded lady, muscle man, conjoined twins, etc.

So, people being people...yeah.

Alma was left with her triplets but thankfully a miracle happened and most of her and Pedro's family was still there. In the blink of an eye, both sides of the family were protected by a large circus tent.

Possibly like this (just without the balloons):

And on the side of the tent, appeared a long train with lots of colors and warmth surrounding it. You can see the towers (top parts) of the tent as different rooms or areas like a house. Like Casita, but a tent.

Alma's remaining family: Her two (conjoined) aunts Maya and Sophia, her Tio Bernardo, her mother Dulce, younger cousin (eight) Jorge, her triplets, and her dog Chispa.

Pedro's remaining family: His parents Viva and Pepe, his sister Acacia and brother Julian, and his abuela carmen.

The whole family felt unsafe staying in the town they were in, so they decided to become a travelling circus. They had a train, why not go places with it? So, they took down the tent and hopped in the train, which is also like Casita. And also bigger on the inside.

Bruno gets his gift and acts as a fortune teller. He also helps come up with storylines for the performers to act. Julieta gets her gift and only uses her magic for her family. She does bake some snacks for the audience to enjoy though. Pepa gets her gift of indestructibility and becomes just like her mother with daredevil stunts.

(Fun fact: Pepa's concept version was actually supposed to have a gift of indestructibility, so I put that in here.)

Pepa and Julieta met their husbands by performing a few nights in their town. So, whenever they had the opportunity to stop in that exact town once in a while, the girls would visit them until eventually they got married.

The grandkids come along, and all the gifts are the same except for Dolores's, she gets the gift of playing whatever instrument she puts her hands on. She often helps the band out if one extra player who couldn't make it.

She also has a way to hear music from afar. One day in her tweens she heard a boy playing the guitar and singing, she followed the sound, and met Mariano.

And to Dolores' luck, his grandmother applied to the Circus as tightrope girl. She was pretty agile and knew ballet, so balancing wasn't that hard for her.

(There are also some other people who joined the circus. It's like a little village inside the tent/train. Mostly people who are seen as "freaks")

Mirabel doesn't have a gift, but she's still included in everything that's family. She's even learning how to do trapeze like Pedro did and scary stunts like Alma.

And she doesn't quite care that she doesn't have one either, most people in her abuela and abuelo's side of the family don't have gifts.

The way the family navigates shows is by holidays. Shows are 6 days before the exact holiday. On the exact holiday, everyone takes a break and celebrates it.

The most common ones they celebrate are Halloween, Christmas, Dia de los muertos, etc.

Everyone is happy in this au (I've been writing angst too much, and I need a break). Ok small very minuscule angst:

Alma doesn't like sitting in new towns no longer than a week at best, she's still a little traumatized from what happened so she doesn't like staying in places too long. She's a little afraid of that incident happening again.

EVERYONES HAPPY LETS GOOOOO

Love Austin where basically no one is sad or just in a state of paranoia. Love that, their so cool <333 personally i don't like tgsm but this au is so cool. Like it just reminds me of this one memory I've always had about going to the circus when I was younger.

And Alma's fear is warranted. And she doesn't take it to an extreme degree. Very reasonable, and I can get behind that.

LOVE THEM <33

[candypalace]

Translation: Gekirock Magazine Dec 2022 (Kai, Uruha)

the GazettE: the band's potential in a flawless expression. 20th anniversary best-of album drop.

Time flies, and in the course of 20 years, the GazettE has gone through a lot of changes. Their new release, 20TH ANNIVERSARY BEST ALBUM HETERODOXY -DIVIDED CONCEPTS-, is a “best-of” album categorized by three concepts: "SINGLES", "ABYSS" and "LUCY". The band is also taking the opportunity to confront their past albums during [the GazettE LIVE TOUR2022-MASS/PHASE 02 "The Unknown"], which will continue until December 21st. Here, we will ask a few questions to Uruha and Kai, the guitarist and drummer of the GazettE, about the circumstances behind revisiting and bringing the band’s past together.

ー the GazettE is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary in the midst of the Japan tour MASS / PHASE 02, where in addition to the songs from the latest album MASS (2021 release), past songs are also performed at various venues. Uruha-san, Kai-san, how do you feel about performing at all those shows so far?

KAI: Rather than saying that the reason why the contents of this tour are a close look into our past is because this year is our 20th anniversary, it’d say it’s because MASS is our 10th album, and we’ve been playing shows in different places to combine it with our past works. It’s also because we have not done a tour with a concept like this before, to tell the truth, and it started with us thinking: “Well, this will be interesting!”. Since some of the songs from past albums will be performed live for the first time in forever, it’s also true that the performance aspect was more difficult than I had expected (laughs). However, when we actually tried it, the results were pretty good! We found the differences in the set lists each time very interesting and enjoyed every single live so far.

URUHA: Each album naturally has a different “color”, so when we combine our newest album with songs from our older albums in one show, it’s very important for us to highlight these different “colors”. That being said, the number of albums we’ve released so far is quite big. Realistically, it would be difficult to play every single song in our discography, so we generally play about five songs for each concept. And yet, by playing those five songs at each live show, we’ve been able to create an atmosphere and space on the tour that we haven’t had before. I think there’s a great synergy between the songs on MASS and the songs from each of our past albums.

ー By the way, why did you decide that you will be choosing exactly 5 songs for each live performance?

KAI: When we were discussing this with the members, someone suggested that we exclude the songs that we already had on MASS / PHASE 01. And we also thought we should play songs that express the essence of each album more vibrantly than others.

URUHA: In terms of the melody, we also decided to avoid choosing only those songs where singing is emphasized over the instrumental part, and we tried to balance each block of the set list.

ー In the midst of all this, HETERODOXY will be released to commemorate the band's 20th anniversary, and as you can tell from the title, it is a voluminous three-piece product. It seems that “3 CONCEPTS” means that the songs are categorized as “SINGLES”, “ABYSS”, and “LUCY” and are divided into 3 discs. How did you come up with such a compilation that condenses 20 years of the band in this best-of album?

KAI: I think the fact that best-of albums naturally start with singles is definitely not unusual. But in our case, this alone would not exactly strike home. Doesn’t “best” for the GazettE mean showing all our colors in various forms? With that in mind, we decided to divide the songs into three separate discs: "SINGLES", "ABYSS" and "LUCY". "ABYSS" and "LUCY" in particular have a very familiar ring to them and give you a taste of our two extremes.

URUHA: Right, because for the GazettE, "ABYSS" and "LUCY" mean the duality that has been our definite part since forever.

ー Looking back, in 2011, there was a FC-only 2-day live "LIVE TOUR 2011 TWO CONCEPT NIGHTS ABYSS/LUCY ~Two different faces, decadence and instinct, two polar nights~" and in 2017, Halloween shows called "HALLOWEEN NIGHT 17 THE DARK HORROR SHOW SPOOKY BOX 2 ABYSS-LUCY". So, probably the fact that the keywords "ABYSS" and "LUCY" express stillness and movement is already well known to the GazettE’s fans.

URUHA: In terms of sound differences, generally "ABYSS" is centered on the dark worldview that the GazettE creates, while "LUCY" is more aggressive. Both sides are the essential components of the GazettE, and we wanted to convey that in our best-of album.

ー So HETERODOXY is a flawless selection of songs that combines the catchiness and pop sensibility of the singles with the darkness and intensity at the heart of the GazettE.

URUHA: Yes, exactly (laughs). 

KAI: I guess you could say that it is as "flawless" as it can get (laughs).

"If I didn’t have a strong mentality, it wouldn’t be surprising if I shattered over and over again"

ー The hardest thing must have been choosing entries for "ABYSS" and "LUCY".

URUHA: We had an online meeting with the members about that. We put the songs on a spreadsheet and discussed it like “ahh, right, mmm, maybe this”. I think it felt close to how we decide on a live set list.

KAI: At that time, when we listened to some songs again, we thought, “Is it really so that an intense song = a “LUCY” song?”. Even for “ABYSS”, it doesn’t necessarily mean that if a song is a ballad it’ll be included there. For some of them, there were specific comments such as, “Isn't it too beautiful a song to be included in "ABYSS"?". So the entries for this best-of album were selected not only by their melody, but also by considering the deeper meaning and characteristics of each song.

ー It seems that this best-of album project also involves remastering, so considering that different ages of production had to be put into a single album according to its concept, was there anything that you had to order the band to do?

URUHA: What we mainly focused on was the length of time. This time we were not looking for any particular change in sound quality, and we only made some adjustments to the sound level when all the songs were laid out on each disc, based on our current sensibilities. We didn’t consciously change the songs just because they’re old.

KAI: This time probably all the members were thinking in the same way, and I didn’t really have to say anything. We simply adjusted the acoustic pressure so that no piece feels out of place when you listen to the disc.

ー So when you listened to HETERODOXY after the remastering, did you notice anything that made you realize that you have grown or changed?

URUHA: Huh, did I... When we’re playing songs from the past on the current tour, I feel that how I’m producing the sound is different between now and the past, so there’s no doubt that the quality in all aspects is now better than it was. Of course, that was the best we could do back then, but I can feel the change.

KAI: When I listen to it, I also feel “Oh, this kind of phrase was very characteristic of me at that time,” or “Oh, so this is the kind of sound I used to make at that time”. In the end, I have always aimed to surpass my past self, and when I look back on my work, I can clearly see that trajectory in the sound.

URUHA: It depends on the song, but I feel that the guitars used to be more clunky in the past (laughs). As time goes by, I definitely feel that the band is becoming more harmonious in terms of sound!

KAI: Really, in our early days, we didn’t even do any pre-production before recording. Back then, I often didn't know what the other members were going to play when we were recording the drums (laughs). I think the biggest change was that from a certain point on, I learned how to properly grasp the composer's intentions while also understanding what everyone else was doing and coming up with my own sound.

URUHA: Even though we have our own ideas about what we want to do, the GazettE’s current style is to produce sound while complexly looking at the whole picture from the listener’s perspective of how cohesive we are as a band. I think over the past 20 years the GazettE has gradually learned that sometimes it’s important to cut out unnecessary things.

ー To put it simply, even just comparing DIM (2009 release), which had a particularly dense sound, and your latest release, MASS, you can tell that the sound is very different, right?

URUHA: If we go further back to NIL (2006 release) or STACKED RUBBISH (2007 release), in retrospect it feels that the combination between guitars is “hard to see”. Solos and other interactions are fine, but I feel that there were unexpectedly many small places on the underside where we conflicted.

ー Can I now ask Kai-san, as the drummer of the GazettE, what is your greatest weapon at the moment? 

KAI: It’s difficult to explain in words, but first and foremost, it’s the fact that I’m in a position to create a sense of dynamics in the band's sound. I think this is the role I was meant to take on. Our basic style right now is that the melody, lyrics, and the so-called emotional parts of a song are left to other parts of the band, and I’m in the background supporting them and bringing out the dynamics.

ー Uruha-san, same question for you. What is your greatest weapon as a guitarist of the GazettE?

URUHA: It’s satisfying that the more I pursue the way I use physical equipment, the playing method and technique, the more interesting they become and the more my skill grows, but I feel like it’s not the most important thing here. What I personally want to polish is my sensitivity, and I think it would be ideal if I could use that as a weapon.

ー So it seems that the members have been diligently working on themselves over the past 20 years. If there was anything you have been able to "obtain" in these 20 years, what is it? I am sure the list of those things is long, but I would like you to focus on just one.

URUHA: A strong mentality, I think. It’s something I’ve been able to obtain only because I’ve been in a band for 20 years. If I didn’t have it, it wouldn’t be surprising if I shattered over and over again (laughs). There were a lot of times when I refused to give up.

KAI: To be honest, I’m glad that we became a band where the members are able to discuss things properly with each other. If we didn’t, I think we would have disbanded by now. Discussing solutions to problems is one thing, but in our case, even when something generally bad happens, the five of us complain to each other (laughs). So I think our strength lies in being able to share and confront things together.

ー Were there times when you sublimed the frustration by turning it into a song?

KAI: There definitely were. That's what I call having a strong emotional strength (laughs).

URUHA: In a way, that’s because we are a rock band. Like, if something pisses you off, you turn it into sound. I think that has always been in the foundation of the GazettE.

ー Ah, the fact that HETERODOXY is now being released to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the GazettE makes me deeply emotional.

KAI: When you listen to our best songs, I think you can cover the GazettE's past and present at a glance.

URUHA: This is without a doubt a package that will show different people what kind of band the GazettE has come to be over the past 20 years.

ー I can understand that! Finally, please tell us about the GazettE's vision for the year 2023 and the future.

KAI: With the release of our 10th album, MASS, and the band’s 20th anniversary, we have reached a lot of milestones recently. Even though there have been some irregularities because of corona, I think that from 2023 on there won’t be any more special topics in various aspects. For the GazettE, 2023 is the year when we’ll return to our usual business, and our fans may be wondering, “What are you going to do after the 20th anniversary?”. I think we’re entering a period where we need to show our fundamental strength as a band. We want to continue our activities so that everyone can feel what the GazettE is all about, cherish what we’ve been protecting, and challenge ourselves with new things.

URUHA: I think that the process of revisiting past songs live and releasing the best-of album in honor of our 20th anniversary gave us a good impulse for the coming year and beyond. When we faced our past again, we were able to reconfirm and gain a deeper understanding of who we as the GazettE are, and now we are well-prepared to create something new from this point on. Looking forward to moving on to the next project!

[thequeenofthedisneyverse]

Travelling circus AU

Sooo, what if the Madrigals were a travelling circus?

Like, say Alma and Pedro were performers but from different circus families. Alma was a stunt woman/did very daredevil things and Pedro simply was a trapeze artist.

It was common for her and his family to compete against each other in different areas of the town they lived in. Their families knew each other pretty well, basically frenemy families.

Alma and Pedro were enemies to frenemies, frenemies to friends, then friends to lovers. After they became lovers (and married), they convinced their respective families to actually form one whole circus together.

After a WHOLE LOT of convincing their parents, they agreed, and became known as "Circo de magia familiar" (Circus of family magic). Everyone tried to get along the best they could and ended up pretty comfortable with each other.

Their big circus actually became more well known by half of Colombia and people started coming from all over the country. The whole Madrigal and Luz family became popular in under five years.

(I HC Alma's last name is Luz)

But with fame...comes its cons. Let's just say not everyone liked the circus family and well...you know what happened. The whole circus tent, train...just everything was destroyed.

You see, Alma and Pedro's family were full of bizarre people. Think the greatest showman if you've seen it. If not, think the bearded lady, muscle man, conjoined twins, etc.

So, people being people...yeah.

Alma was left with her triplets but thankfully a miracle happened and most of her and Pedro's family was still there. In the blink of an eye, both sides of the family were protected by a large circus tent.

Possibly like this (just without the balloons):

And on the side of the tent, appeared a long train with lots of colors and warmth surrounding it. You can see the towers (top parts) of the tent as different rooms or areas like a house. Like Casita, but a tent.

Alma's remaining family: Her two (conjoined) aunts Maya and Sophia, her Tio Bernardo, her mother Dulce, younger cousin (eight) Jorge, her triplets, and her dog Chispa.

Pedro's remaining family: His parents Viva and Pepe, his sister Acacia and brother Julian, and his abuela carmen.

The whole family felt unsafe staying in the town they were in, so they decided to become a travelling circus. They had a train, why not go places with it? So, they took down the tent and hopped in the train, which is also like Casita. And also bigger on the inside.

Bruno gets his gift and acts as a fortune teller. He also helps come up with storylines for the performers to act. Julieta gets her gift and only uses her magic for her family. She does bake some snacks for the audience to enjoy though. Pepa gets her gift of indestructibility and becomes just like her mother with daredevil stunts.

(Fun fact: Pepa's concept version was actually supposed to have a gift of indestructibility, so I put that in here.)

Pepa and Julieta met their husbands by performing a few nights in their town. So, whenever they had the opportunity to stop in that exact town once in a while, the girls would visit them until eventually they got married.

The grandkids come along, and all the gifts are the same except for Dolores's, she gets the gift of playing whatever instrument she puts her hands on. She often helps the band out if one extra player who couldn't make it.

She also has a way to hear music from afar. One day in her tweens she heard a boy playing the guitar and singing, she followed the sound, and met Mariano.

And to Dolores' luck, his grandmother applied to the Circus as tightrope girl. She was pretty agile and knew ballet, so balancing wasn't that hard for her.

(There are also some other people who joined the circus. It's like a little village inside the tent/train. Mostly people who are seen as "freaks")

Mirabel doesn't have a gift, but she's still included in everything that's family. She's even learning how to do trapeze like Pedro did and scary stunts like Alma.

And she doesn't quite care that she doesn't have one either, most people in her abuela and abuelo's side of the family don't have gifts.

The way the family navigates shows is by holidays. Shows are 6 days before the exact holiday. On the exact holiday, everyone takes a break and celebrates it.

The most common ones they celebrate are Halloween, Christmas, Dia de los muertos, etc.

Everyone is happy in this au (I've been writing angst too much, and I need a break). Ok small very minuscule angst:

Alma doesn't like sitting in new towns no longer than a week at best, she's still a little traumatized from what happened so she doesn't like staying in places too long. She's a little afraid of that incident happening again.

@toaverse

[calyxthenerd]

i learned my passion in the good old-fashioned school of lover boys

Percy stood in front of the conference room, as several guys poofed in “Hello, my dudes, welcome to the ‘bi guys who love their girlfriends’ meeting, my girlfriend’s cousin did something like this and I wanted to do it too, I am Percy Jackson, he/him, and I got pretty cool water powers, feel free to introduce yourselves”

“I’m Leon Vargas, he/him, and I’m in a band?” He phrased it like a question, because he was very confused and slightly panicked, the closest he has ever come to magic is sharing dreams with his girlfriend

“I’m Sokka, I use the guy pronouns I guess? I don’t know, I don’t really get that stuff, and I am a pretty awesome warrior” he grins

“I’m Dexter Charming, he/him, and I love gaming” he waves awkwardly, man he was bad at this

“I’m Hunter Noceda, and Luz taught me about the difference between pronouns!” He beams “I use they/them and I’m a clone!” Everyone is disturbed, but they decide to ignore it

“I’m Adrien” he paused, letting the blue haired boy he was holding hands with, talk “and I’m Luka” “I use he/him and I can speak four languages” the blonde countinued “I use he/they and I’m also in a band” he looked at Leon briefly

“And now, we rant about how cool our girlfriends are and bond over it” Percy explained “My girlfriend, Annabeth, is soooo smart, her plans are always awesome and she’s so pretty too! missions with her are the best” he rambled, a lovesick grin on his face

“My girlfriend, Suki is really smart too! I’m usually the one with the plans, but she’s an incredible warrior and she’s taught me so much, when she joined us on our missions it was really great as well” he and Percy went to the corner to bond over fighting in wars and having girlfriends who were the same brand of badass, completely ignoring the rest and the fact that Percy was supposed to lead this meeting

“Violetta, my fiancé, is the best, she’s one of the most wonderful musicians I’ve ever met, and that’s saying a lot, considering I know so many of great ones, she’s my soulmate, it still baffles me how in sync we are, we wrote at least five songs together in our dreams over the course of our relationship” Leon smiled

“That’s so cool! My girlfriend Raven, is a witch, and she’s also really good with music! She’s the most talented person I know! And the way she gets when she’s arguing for something she believes in, it’s the most beautiful thing…” he trails off, zooning out in a daydream

Hunter looked at Dexter weirdly before starting his rant “Willow is the best! even when I was… not the best person to be around, she stood by me and helped me see the error of my ways, she carries the weight of the world on her shoulders, in the form of caring for all our friends, but she does it with such grace, it took me a while to realize it was doing her harm, but now our dynamic is much more balanced and healthy, at least that’s what mama Noceda told us” leaving Adrien, Luka and Leon, the only ones still listening, very concerned

“How do you do these trips across universes? I’d like to talk to this girlfriend of yours” Luka said

“I’m afraid I don’t know, I’m sorry” Hunter lowered his head

“How about we talk about Mari now, Luka?” Adrien asked, desperate for a subject change

“Melody is wonderful, she’s so lively and creative, she inspires me to do things i never saw myself doing before, and her being the one person, besides her girlfriend, to truly understand my sister certainly doesn’t hurt her case” Luka stated

“Mari is amazing! She helped me understand the world in a way I haven’t been able to before, being homeschooled and never having any friends, she is my guiding light, I love her so much” he sighed, his gaze far away, as Luka squeezed his hand

“I really need to get him and Vilu in a room together” Leon mumbled

“What was that?” Adrien questioned

“Nothing” he pooked Percy on the shoulder, interrupting a discussion between him and Sokka about the best kind of weapon

“And that’s why swords are supe- what?” the demigod turned around

“I was just wondering how you chose us specifically? Because aside from those two” he points to Adrien and Luka, who are flirting back at the table “none of us know each other”

“Well, you see- look at the time! You guys should get going, I’ll tell you as you leave” he declared

“Hunter is from a show my friend Clarisse pretends not to like” he poofs back to the Noceda house, where he decided to stay after everything that happened

“Leon is from a show my friend Piper told me about” he poofs back to the apartment he shares with Violetta

“Dexter is from a show my friend Will loves” he poofs back into his classroom, where a class was still happening, not even noticing anything was happening around him, still daydreaming about Raven

“Sokka is from my baby sister Estelle’s favorite show” he poofs back to the room he was staying in on his diplomatic trip to the fire nation

“And lastly, you two” he looks at Luka and Adrien “are from my brother Tyson’s favorite show” they poof back to the liberty

Magnus pokes his head into the room “how’d it go?”

“Perfect, thanks for teaching me that trick, Maggie!” He smirks

“I told you not to call me that, now let’s go, Alex and Annie are waiting on us for lunch” he grumbled, and they walked away to meet their girlfriends who they loved very much

[eurovision-revisited]

Eurovision 2004 - Number 39 - Slobodan River - "Surrounded"

They're back - the Ur band of Estonian Eurovision. After last year's experimentation with a televote at Eurolaul, ETV have flipped entirely and this year's competition is 100% televoted. Maybe the outcome of that advisory televote last year was chastening...

You would expect a band as big as well-known in Estonia as Slobodan River to benefit from that, but they are up against a couple of other big names in the competition, so they need a big song.

They've gone with Surrounded, a song about the final straw and telling him just get out. No more lines, excuses or threats, get out. There's an undercurrent of violence both in what lead singer Ithaka Maria has experienced and in what she'll do if her partner doesn't comply with her demand. The song is melodic pop-rock with alternative slant, and given the lyrics, is somewhat non-angry. It's a sing along fun song with an upbeat lilt.

This is all a bit Abba in fact. Even more so because Ithaka Maria and guitarist Tomi Rahula have been married for a while. In fact they've been a couple since she was 13 and he was 16 at high school in 1993. The band was formed with them at the centre with Maria writing many of the songs - this is one of hers. Slobodan River in 2004 are actually having their best year with their album (also called Surrounded) yielding many singles that got to the upper ends of the Estonian charts.

The band split two years later in 2006. Maria and Tomi divorced five years later in 2011. They all went on to much national success in different arenas (as I outlined in for their 2003 song What a Day). That makes this the last time that Slobodan River appeared together in the Estonian national final, but they'd all be back again either solo, as song-writers, in other bands or even as the producer for the entire show! I have no doubt that this blog bit will be linked to many times in the future.

[splinteredthoughts]

Splinter!

I saw the Bendy oc and wanted to ask if you had any other ocs you would want to share!

and feel free to use this ask to just fully go for it with talking bout them too!

Ooooooo!

Dragon you have no idea how excited I am to answer this!!

I’m gonna focus on a couple of ocs I made in the past year. Otherwise I’d be answering this all day. This is gonna be a loooong one, and I’m going to add on to it later with more ocs, so the rest is under the cut.

This is a bunch of guys I made based on the five senses! I also slotted them into the five-man-band structure because I love that trope SO much (I could make a whole other post talking about that).

On the far left is Hearing or Sound (I haven't come up with names for them, so I just call them based on what sense they are). They're the smart guy of the group. Sound is a wiz with technology and is able to process and catalogue a LOT of information all at once. Their ears kinda reminded me of an alien, so I gave them the ability to float. Sound is kinda cocky, but they are always thinking five steps ahead, so they have some right to be. The darker parts of their body are actually armor/clothes, they also visually differentiate them from the rest of the group.

On the far right is Taste. He is dripping with confidence and charisma, which is fitting since he is the leader. Taste is bold and brash, often crashing into situations and smooth-talking his way out of them. Although his main sense is taste, he rarely sticks out his tongue. This is because his tongue can taste the air like a snake, and the amount of sensory information would overwhelm him, so he focuses more on negotiation since he is the only member of the team who can speak. Taste actually prefers to talk his way out of conflicts, even though he's pretty good in a fight (look at those claws!)

Hiding behind everyone is Sight, the lancer to Taste's leader. While taste is confident, Sight is quite the scaredy-cat, very paranoid and cautious. This is because while she can do the best recon and information gathering, she is very vulnerable to people sneaking up behind her since she has no secondary sense to watch with. Because she is able to see, she is also often the first to notice when something is wrong with one of the other members, and she cares a LOT about them. Sight and Sound make the best pair mission-wise since they can communicate with each other fairly easily and are more patient than a lot of the others.

In the back on the right is Touch. They are the heart of the group. Touch has five fingers instead of the normal three that everyone else has, and the four whiskers or feelers on their face are very sensitive and help them to feel changes on temperature and air current to more accurately guide themselves around. Touch and Sight get along very well. They have a mutual understanding of the other’s vulnerability and can sit together in silence for hours. Touch has a scar that runs down their spine and branches out like the nervous system. They are the most vulnerable of the group and barely ever leave the base, which is just fine with Touch. Everyone in the group comes to them for comfort, and Touch cares for them. They are an extremely gentle person.

Last, but certainly not least, right in front of the group is Smell. He is the big guy of the group, both is size and in physical strength. He lost his arms years ago, which makes him tend to move in a more animalistic way (he is SO fun to draw! My favorite, in fact). Before the group formed, he and Touch lived in the same house. They both rarely went out, since their limited senses made them feel uncomfortable outside of a familiar environment. Smell is very protective of the whole group, but especially of Touch. Physically unable to talk or sign, Smell has a hard time communicating with any of the group, but Touch and Sight can always calm him down if something really gets to him. Smell and Taste clash a lot, since they both crash ahead without thinking and get on each other’s nerves.

Alright! I think that’s everything! I had SO much fun talking about my guys here (this is my second time typing it up cause Tumblr ate my answer before T-T). I’ll definitely be making posts about these and other ocs in the future!

[1solone]

Happy 77th Birthday to JOHN McVIE (born 26 Nov 1945)

NOTE: I've put together this video montage to go with THE CHAIN - the only song from RUMOURS with writing credits from all five members (Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood).

As the bassist for Fleetwood Mac -- and, indeed, providing the "Mac" in that group name -- John McVie may be the most circumspect, self-effacing rock musician ever to achieve anything like superstar status. This fact could be explained when one recognizes that he never set out to be a rock musician, or a superstar.

Among bassists whose names are (or have been) household words, he's positively a shrinking violet next to figures such as John Entwistle, Paul McCartney, Jack Bruce, John Paul Jones, Sting, et al., all the while appearing on just about as many records as any of them (save McCartney) that are in people's collections.

He is best known as a member of the rock bands John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1964 to 1967 and Fleetwood Mac since 1967. He joined Fleetwood Mac shortly after its formation by guitarist Peter Green in 1967, replacing temporary bass guitarist Bob Brunning. McVie and Fleetwood are the only two members of the group to appear on every Fleetwood Mac release, and for over fifty years have been the group's last remaining original members.

In 1968, McVie married blues pianist and singer Christine Perfect, who became a member of Fleetwood Mac two years later. John and Christine McVie divorced in 1977, but remained on good terms. During this time the band recorded the album Rumours, a major artistic and commercial success that borrowed its title from the turmoil in McVie's and other band members' marriages and relationships.

McVie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 as a member of Fleetwood Mac.

THE CHAIN

Stevie Nicks wrote the lyrics about Lindsey Buckingham as their relationship was falling apart. Buckingham and Nicks share lead vocals on the song.

Pieces of different studio takes were spliced together to form the track. The bass line that comes in at about the 3-minute mark through the song was written independently by John McVie, who was originally planning to use it in a different song.

This began as a Christine McVie song called "Butter Cookie (Keep Me There)," which which is available on the expanded edition of Rumours. The beginning of the track wasn't working, but the band loved Mick Fleetwood and John McVie's ending, which was now on tape. So, they counted back from the bass line, used the kick-drum as a metronome, Nicks gave them the lyrics for the verses, Buckinghan and Christine McVie wrote the music and the chorus lyrics, Lindsey added the guitar over the ending, and "The Chain" as we know it was born.

This is the only Fleetwood Mac song credited to all five members of their 1977 lineup. Since various pieces were assembled to make the song, they all had some contribution.

This song came to represent the resilience of Fleetwood Mac and the strength of their bond as they continued on for many years despite their personal and professional difficulties. It was often the first song they played in concert.

The low bass line in this song was used by the BBC for the Grand Prix theme tune for many years.

Mick Fleetwood: "'The Chain' basically came out of a jam. That song was put together as distinct from someone literally sitting down and writing a song. It was very much collectively a band composition. The riff is John McVie's contribution - a major contribution. Because that bassline is still being played on British TV in the car-racing series to this day. The Grand Prix thing. But it was really something that just came out of us playing in the studio. Originally we had no words to it. And it really only became a song when Stevie wrote some. She walked in one day and said, 'I've written some words that might be good for that thing you were doing in the studio the other day.' So it was put together. Lindsey arranged and made a song out of all the bits and pieces that we were putting down onto tape. And then once it was arranged and we knew what we were doing, we went in and recorded it. But it ultimately becomes a band thing anyway, because we all have so much of our own individual style, our own stamp that makes the sound of Fleetwood Mac. So it's not like you feel disconnected from the fact that maybe you haven't written one of the songs. Because what you do, and what you feel when we're all making music together, is what Fleetwood Mac ends up being, and that's the stuff you hear on the albums. Whether one likes it or not, this is, after all, a combined effort from different people playing music together."

[xaviermattthews]

Full Name: Xavier Matthews.

Nicknames: X.

Pronouns and Gender: He/Him, cis man.

Birthday: July 27th, 1990.

Birth place: Houston, Texas.

How long have they been in town?: 15 years on and off.

Sexuality: Bisexual.

Housing: Seabrook Quarter.

Occupation: Lead singer of a band called Submergence.

Family: Only child of divorced parents.

triggers: drugs, alcohol // @aurorabayaesthetic

OVERVIEW.

xavier grew up in what he thought was a stable home in houston, texas. that was until shortly after his fourteenth birthday his mother addie came out as a lesbian in her forties which effectively ended her marriage to his father, darren. his father’s departure from the home and his parents subsequent divorce weighed heavily on him, and kickstarted a five year long spiral that culminated in a cocaine overdose at the age of 19.

what followed was his first rehab stint, and a six month period of consecutive sobriety which ended in a weekend in LA that he still can’t recall the full details of.

most of his 20′s was spent falling on and off the wagon, but he’s been sober since his 30th birthday and is determined to make it stick this time.

regular attendee of AA meetings, but isn’t the most forthcoming about that. or anything.

he started playing guitar after his father bought him one for his 10th birthday, and it remains the one consistent hobby he keeps that doesn’t double as a vice.

worked a variety of jobs over his tenure in aurora bay, mostly service industry. bartending was his longest stint.

formed submergence at 21 with 3 close friends. he didn't think they would do much with it other than fuck around, but interest in them grew steadily over the years and after one of their songs was used in a movie an had little moment of going viral, he decided to focus fully on the band.

the band got signed to a label five years ago and their first album (flood) did numbers.

he's working on their sophomore album (tsunami) currently and trying to manage the pressure of living up to his own expectations.

PERSONALITY.

+ ambitious, independent, enthusiastic, skillful.

- loud, jealous, implusive, cutthroat.

FUN ADJACENT FACTS.

goes by x for all things related to his music.

speaks fluent spanish.

has an arrest record that’s both long and ridiculous. has managed to avoid a holding cell since he signed his record deal because they threatened to drop him if he didn't get his shit together.

has nearly been cancelled on twitter twice.

has a bunch of running jokes with hardcore fans of his band. it's all a bit parasocial.

closest vibe to his band's music irl is the 1975.

did a spotify singles cover of anti-hero by taylor swift that went viral on tiktok. think this.

CURRENT CONNECTIONS.

bandmate and husband of @vanessagable

older brother of @lilymatthews (muse no longer in game but still canon)

former best friend of @lucianaxalvarez

ex-boyfriend of @cheyxjohnson (muse no longer in game but still canon)

best friend of @bradley-banner

close friend of @christinaxwagner / pseudo uncle to her son

ex-boyfriend of @lemielewis

sorta family friend because of dating lemie to @lorelailewis / @luckylewis

former friend/bandmate of @connorxrose

former neighbour of @rominacortez

mutually destructive influence of @pearlwestbrook (muse no longer in game but still canon)

sponsee/close friend @greengideon

former bad influence of @tillycai

godlike to @fionaosmvn

formerly got his coke from @marsmoran pre-getting clean

in talks to write a song for a movie adaption of one of @coradeveraux's books

SPECIFIC WANTED CONNECTIONS.

bandmates!! this will require heavy plotting though because the band have been playing together for 12 years now. there's a lottttt of history there, but also hella things in the future!

GENERIC WANTED CONNECTIONS.

connections wise he’s pretty much an open book right now, but some baseline ideas that can be springboarded off are:

friendly.

best friend (1 space available) /  childhood friends from houston / bandmates / friends / drunk friends / online friends/pen pals / former friend / new friends / former co-workers (pretty fluid and he’s definitely bounced around jobs so can be worked out for specific plot needs).

romantic.

flirtationship / friends with benefits / tinder matches / exes / unrequited crush (can be either way) / experimented with their sexuality together.

antagonistic.

enemies / former (best) friends / fell for the same person & fell out of touch / frenemies / rivals / negative influence / former co-workers (could have caused him to quit or be fired from a former job, can be worked out in depth).

[sureihsan-arc]

i. “jugband blues” - pink floyd // ii. “one art” - elizabeth bishop // iii. “shine on you crazy diamond (I-V)” - pink floyd

( uraz kaygilaroglu, cis man, he/him ) — Look who it is! If you take a look at our database, you’ll find that IHSAN KAPLAN is a THIRTY-SIX year old DISGRACED MUSICIAN/ARTIST/'HUMAN’ LAB RAT that’s been in Chicago for ELEVEN YEARS. According to the file, they’re a mutant on LEVEL FOUR with the power of MADNESS DEITY PHYSIOLOGY. That must be why they’re CREATIVE and UNRELIABLE. If you ask me, they remind me of grillz in the year of our lord 2022, black holes in the sky - growing. growing. growing., dark brushstrokes creating a horrific rendition of the starry night. They are affiliated with THE DAMNED.

QUICK FACTS:

full name: ihsan emir kaplan

name reasoning: ihsan = perfection or excellence // emir = nobility... so just irony!

date of birth: january 6th, 1987

zodiac big three: capricorn sun, gemini moon, gemini rising

gender & pronouns: cis man & he/him

sexual orientation: bisexual

ethnicity: turkish

nationality: turkish

religion: agnostic, raised a loosely practicing muslim

languages spoken: english (5), turkish (5)

enneagram: 4w5

mbti: xnfp

temperament: melancholic-sanguine

alignment: chaotic evil

ability: madness deity physiology

affiliation: the damned

alias: cheshire

BACKSTORY

triggers: i don’t think there are any actually............... there’s a brief mention of drugs? but it’s literally one sentence alfhkjds

ihsan had a remarkably normal childhood. born in istanbul, he spent the first five years of his life learning about where he came from. upon the birth of his sibling, his parents packed up and moved to san francisco. san francisco, which would bring two major players into his life: a new friend, and his own younger sibling.

in san francisco, he became friends with a boy whose experience was similar to his own, having immigrated from england. they leaned on each other as they attempted to assimilate -- and it was nice to not be alone.

the two dreamt of a greater life together, constantly going over beautiful ‘what ifs’ together -- but, to them, it was ‘when will.’ there was no question in their mind: as they ventured into musicianship, they would become major successes.

but there was a little record scratch. when ihsan was fifteen, he bore witness to a secret his sibling had been trying hard to keep at bay: they turned into a fucking vampire. he fucking walked in on them drinking blood right out of a rat that got in the house!

initially fucking creeped out, he played the game of ‘i saw nothing.’ it was plain as day, though -- not only had he made direct eye contact, but he had begun hoarding all of their pets, as if protecting them from an unspeakable evil.

luckily, his parents thought he was just growing closer to them!

but they were so young and so visibly terrified, so clearly trying to restrain themselves. he would catch them making excuse after excuse to avoid leaving the house. and, eventually, he caved.

ihsan became a pillar of support for his sibling. already just outside of puberty, he figured he was safe from suffering the same fate -- so what could he do to help? every now and again, he would provide his own blood. he couldn’t help them figure out their powers, but he could help them survive.

with their permission, he found himself telling his buddy what the deal was. his buddy revealed something shocking: he, too, was a mutant ! an invisible power, and a very tame one, but it was enough to help ihsan’s sibling out.

wow ! he was surrounded by the best people ! what could go wrong ?

at nineteen, ihsan and his buddy began taking their music very seriously, finding two other musicians to form a complete band with.

ihsan was somewhat of the leader at first. considered a creative visionary by the other three, some kind of mad genius, he launched their careers onto offbeat radio stations. a bit underground with a sound such as theirs, but it was the sound they wanted.

however, at twenty-three, he began... changing. more erratic, less reliable. he would spend days on end holed up, then would spend the next many days on end buzzing around. he would claim absurd things, commit acts of violence, sabotage their own band, and overall... become the syd barrett of the group.

one second, his buddy would think he was dead. the next second, his sibling would find him at their door and become overwhelmed with... a presence they didn’t want to welcome into their home.

they tried to blame acid. they tried to blame some unspecified mental illness. but little did they -- hell, little did he -- know that it was the result of a late onset mutation. the scale was grander than vampirism, and there was no one to help him and there were no guides on how to navigate it. he simply thought he was losing his marbles.

the stronger his mutation became, the worse he was to them, the worse they were to him. steady and fun turned into unreliable and unstable. ousted during a stint in chicago when he became impossible to put up with, it could be said that the group left him, but he left them long ago.

in the end, a quick buck could be made through drug trials... and he could totally pretend he wasn’t skewing the results !

thus, with no one left, he embraced the worst parts of himself and became the violent and erratic man he presents as today. he only realized he was not going insane in the clinical way when those around him began finding themselves driven mad for no reason at all. it was a mutation. it was an influence.

he did not join the damned for the sake of mutant supremacy. he does not believe it’s fathomable, he does not believe he’ll make any lifelong friends within the group with his history. but he does believe it’s a great excuse to just... go hog-wild! get silly!

TIMELINE

BORN -- in ��87 in istanbul

AGE 5 -- family moves to san francisco. sibling is born. meets who will become a life-long friend.

AGE 15 -- sees sibling chowing on a rat. figures out sibling is a mutant. eventually tries to help sibling, but has no experience, so his help just boils down to ‘here’s some of my blood.’ tells his buddy. his buddy reveals that he’s also a mutant, albeit with a much easier power, and helps his sibling.

AGE 19 -- he and his buddy start taking their careers as musicians very seriously. they form a full band and ihsan takes the lead.

AGES 19-23 -- creates a sound that finds them often landing on underground circuits.

AGE 23 -- starts becoming very unreliable and erratic. nothing like his former self. will sabotage their own performances. will commit acts of violence. will go missing for days on end. will show up at his sibling’s unprompted. etc etc.  ( yes, i have based this off of syd barrett. )

AGE 24 -- becomes so hard to put up with that his band has no choice but to let go of him. stays in chicago. without formal education and without an attitude fit for any employment opportunities, he becomes a ‘human’ guinea pig for drug trials and psych students. eventually puts two-and-two together that the big shift was due to a mutation.

AGE 27+ -- joins the damned. not because of the doctrine, rather because it’s a good excuse to embrace the very worst parts of himself. will totally pretend it’s for the doctrine, though.

HEADCANONS

the band is named ‘wilson red’ after classic psychedelic artists brian wilson + red krayola

“fucking sell-outs” - ihsan upon hearing his ex-band on mainstream radio for the first time ( fuck you, 2017 ! )

has to cause a mental breakdown at least once every five days or he’ll have to suffer through it himself. and, given that it’s caused by his ability, it’s much worse than what one usually pictures when they picture a mental breakdown.

completely cut contact with his sibling when his band ‘left him,’ despite them having very little to do with the decision... you know, since they aren’t even in the band.

still very much a creative. plays a variety of instruments and continues to compose songs, writes poetry, draws/paints/etc whatever comes to mind. it’s one of the few good qualities he’s retained.

actively sells his paintings, but... very dark subject matter... they don’t sell very well... leaving him more or less homeless with how unpredictable the drug trial money is

multi multi multi multi multi-instrumentalist. guitar, drums, bass, piano, harmonica, flute, clarinet, trumpet, banjo, organ -- and that’s not all ! and literally if it would sound good in a song, he’d pick it up in a second.

it is entirely on purpose that his zodiac big three, for the most part, does not match his current personality. he was basically possessed by a trickster god ! his personality took a drastic turn !

his mutation has slightly affected his physical attributes. his eyes have black sclera and white irises (still black pupils tho) and every other tooth is silver.

more to come !

CONNECTION IDEAS

his childhood friend/ex-bandmate !!! would require some plotting. a guy who moved from england to san francisco as a kid, has a minor mutation, became close with both ihsan and his sibling, formed a band with ihsan, made the difficult decision to kick him out, kept going with the band and probably changed the sound. alexa, play the entire ‘wish you were here’ album and also the entire ‘the dark side of the moon’ album and also the entire ‘the wall’ album.

his sibling !!! gender left vague, but must be turkish ! five years his junior, vampire physiology ( can brainstorm other ideas if you’re feeling the idea, but not that ability, though ! ), tried to keep mutation a secret but was discovered by ihsan, ihsan enlisted the help of his childhood buddy to help them gain control of their ability. ihsan and sibling were very close, what to the point that ihsan would often show up at their doorstep after days of going missing. contributed, however lightly, to the decision to let ihsan go.

ex-bandmates ! were brought together by ihsan and childhood buddy, save for one who served as ihsan’s replacement. why are they in chicago? i don’t know! maybe they disbanded! but, after ihsan’s firing roughly a decade ago, they became more mainstream and successful. would need a pianist, a bassist, and a drummer -- one or two or three of whom being lead vocals. (2/3 - drums: terrence walker, bass: kit caruso, keyboard: open)

his replacement ! the new guitarist, the new co-vocalist, the new co-lyricist. for a multitude of reasons, ihsan hates this person ! i think it could be spicy if they had, indeed, met before y/m officially joined the band ( a la david gilmour/syd barrett... but antagonistic ), but we will see ! anyway, ihsan hates them. ( preferably masc to cover for ihsan’s vocals )

the damned buddies ! i don’t need friends, they disappoint me. but violence buddies ? that’s fun !

people who volunteer to have mental breakdowns ! you gotta be pretty fucked up for that, but check it !

brainstorming !

[concerthopperblog]

Big Dumb Tour 2024: Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol Live @ The Earl

Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol (RBBP) is a rock/doom wop/groove metal/heavy metal/metal/party metal trio from Austin, Texas. RBBP consists of Leo Lydon (vocals/guitar), Sean St. Germain (drums), and Aaron Metzdorf (bass/backing vocals). RBBP has released three (3) LPs, four (4) singles/EPs, two (2) compilations, and one (1) cassette. Their latest release is entitled Big Dumb Riffs, and I am stoked for this new release to arrive in the mail so I can add it to my RBBP collection. I randomly stumbled upon RBBP one day scrolling through Bandcamp and came across their album, Burger Babes… From Outer Space! Then a few years later, I was surprised that they were announced on the Shaky Knees Music Festival lineup in 2022 among some other wicked bands/artists.

My first time seeing RBBP at Shaky Knees was all that I expected. Loud, heavy, fun, energetic, and full of big dumb riffs. Just the way I like it. This tour stop on the Big Dumb Tour 2024 was also full of meaty big dumb riffs, but this time RBBP gets to play The Earl in the East Atlanta Village on Flat Shoals Rd. One of my favorite smaller venues in Atlanta is The Earl because it is so intimate, and you can get up close and personal with your favorite artist/band while they perform. When RBBP announced the Big Dumb Tour 2024 via their socials, I was ready to get another opportunity to see them perform again but this time with local Atlanta favorites NAW and Pretty Please as opening support at The Earl.

Starting this evening’s festivities was the Atlanta band Pretty Please. Pretty Please is a three (3) piece rock/grunge/noise rock band from Atlanta, GA. Pretty Please was formed as a band in 2012 and consists of Robee Whitmire (guitar/vocals), Brian Martinez (bass), and David Bair (drums). I think the best way to describe Pretty Please is by comparing their earsplitting sound to (the) Melvins, Whores., and very early Nirvana. Also, I think that when you attend a show featuring Pretty Please (or any band on this bill), it is safe to say that you should wear some ear protection because it gets LOUD! That is exactly how we like it. Loud and crunchy. Pretty Please was the perfect choice to start this evening with their deafening and vivacious set of songs from their five (5) LP discography. I cannot wait to check Pretty Please out again at a future show, and you should also. Check out the setlist from Pretty Please below:

·         “Vulsella”

·         “Lowered Expectations”

·         “Wormy”

·         “X-Mas box”

·         “White Castle”

·         “Rock is Dad”

·         “It Pays to Complain”

·         “Brick Shithead”

You can support and listen to Pretty Please over on their Official Bandcamp page today.

NAW is a four (4) piece noise rock/post-hardcore/noise metal/grunge/rock band from Atlanta, GA. NAW consists of Amanda Sherman (vocals), Jared Singleton (guitar), Kevin Stokes (drums), and Dave Sherman (bass). I did not know what to expect from either NAW or Pretty Please, as I wanted to be surprised with both bands especially since they were Atlanta artists. NAW came onstage to many people in the crowd screaming their names, so I knew something special was about to transpire. Within the first few minutes of their set, I knew why the crowd was going berserk while they were taking the stage. NAW’s raw energy and passion while performing are quite evident and unbridled. Like Pretty Please, I was blown away by NAW’s intense set with some crowd interaction by Amanda sprinkled in for good measure.

The most random part of this evening came from the fact that Dave Sherman recognized me from my stint working at Sam Goody in the Augusta Mall in Augusta, GA. many moons ago. It makes me happy knowing that music can bring people together and over time they can reconnect. Music makes the world a much better and happier place. You can see NAW’s setlist from this evening’s show below:

·         “You’re a Coward and This World Will Remain Unchanged Without You”

·         “Weed Them and Reap”

·         “Meat”

·         “I Against I” (Bad Brains cover)

·         “Null”

·         “Ugly”

·         “Cope Atypical”

Head to NAW’s Official Bandcamp page or their linktr.ee/nawatlanta and show them some love!

When it came time for RBBP to take the stage, you could feel the excitement with many folks in the crowd. I overheard some people talking about the previous times seeing them perform live and how they were stoked for this evening. Once Leo had added his setlist to the stage, I was over the moon to see four songs that I hoped they would play made this evening’s setlist. And two of the songs on my list kicked off their unforgettable set. I highly recommend seeing RBBP do their thing if they come to your favorite venue if you like your music thunderous and full of big dumb riffs. Check out this wicked setlist from RBBP from The Earl (04/20/2024) in Atlanta, GA below:

·         “I’m the Fucking Man”

·         “1-800-Eat Shit”

·         “Body Bag”

·         “Peanut Butter Snack Sticks”

·         “Whip It Around”

·         “Blue Collar Man”

·         “It’s A Jar”

·         “The Worm”

·         “Sister Militia”

·         “Fly Super Glide”

·         “Shoo-in”

·         “Baby Man”

·         “Gravy”

You can listen to and support RBBP on Bandcamp by following this link. Also, do not forget to preorder the new LP, Big Dumb Riffs, when you visit their Bandcamp page.

Curious about Concerthopper? You can find more music-related articles, interviews, various photo galleries, indie music reviews, our ‘Bars & Bites’ section, our exclusive “She Said, She Said” column, or become a Concerthopper at www.concerthopper.com. Sign up for our monthly newsletter by following this link: The Setlist! Please ‘Like’ our page on Facebook and follow us on Instagram to stay up to date in 2023, on all music-related events/festivals such as Tour of the Valedores: John Garcia Live at The Masquerade, High on Fire: Live at The Senate (Columbia), Shoot For The Moon Tour: Sierra Ferrell Live at The Eastern, Seasons World Tour 2024: Thirty Seconds to Mars & AFI Live at MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Mr. Bungle: Live at The Tabernacle, Ashes of Leviathan Tour: Mastodon & Lamb of God @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre, An Evening with Goose (Night 3) @ The Fox Theatre (Atlanta), Least Anticipated Album Tour: A Day To Remember @ Outer Harbor Live at Terminal B, S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival w/ SLASH, Larkin Poe, ZZ Ward, and Robert Randolph – Live @ The Orion Amphitheater (Huntsville), Doyle & Otep Live at The Ranch (Ft. Myers), Leftover Salmon, The Infamous Stringdusters, & The Kitchen Dwellers: Live at The Eastern (Atlanta), Weedeater w/ Telekinetic Yeti & Restless Spirit: Live @ Grantski Records, Blackout Tour Pt. 2: From Ashes to New Live @ Water Street Music Hall (Rochester), Is For Lovers Tour (Fox Summer Stage), We Legalized It 2024: Cypress Hill, The Pharcyde, & Souls of Mischief: Live at Tabernacle, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: Live at The Fox Theatre (Atlanta), The Godmode Tour: In This Moment Live @ Landmark Theatre (Syracuse), Hawthrone Heights: 20 Years of Tears Tour (Sound @ Coachman Park), Catalyst 20 Years Later - New Found Glory: Live at Buffalo Riverworks, Underoath “They’re Only Chasing Safety” 20th Anniversary Tour: Live at Buffalo Riverworks, and Pallbearer w/ Rwake & The Keening @ The Masquerade (Atlanta) by following us on all social media formats: Concerthopper on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  You can also follow my concert hopping on Facebook and Instagram.