#and this production of theirs is the one I'm most familiar with‚ with the other one being S×F for comparison

[fullscoreshenanigans]

Is CloverWorks entirely at fault for TPN S2's mangled production?

I see so many people default to blaming CloverWorks for being the sole arbiter of S2's horribly disappointing production (sometimes Shirai is added into the mix too, especially by anime-onlys), but every time I do I'm genuinely asking the question of whether that's true and where they're pulling their information from.

I'm not involved in the animation industry at all so I'm interested in receiving input from people who are more familiar with it, but my understanding is the people in charge of the decision to truncate S2 would be The Promised Neverland Committee listed at the end of the opening credits.

(I could not find a single video of the English dub that aired on [adult swim] for the English credits of S1, so a screencap from the Japanese credits)

TPN Committee is comprised of the following entities: Aniplex (Distributor), Fuji TV (TV Station), Shueisha (Manga Publisher), Cygames Anime Fund, Dentsu (ads)

(Sources 1 | 2 | 3)

kViN from Sakugabooru details what a production company is in this post:

"I personally find it enjoyable to see who is involved in a show, and as you’ve seen there is plenty of information to draw from that. Animation production studios are listed in the credits for each show, so it’s understandable why audiences would imagine they have a ton of influence over a production. It’s even natural to think that the company that is actually manufacturing something would have great input! If you start paying attention to these committees though, you get a clearer picture of the finances of production and how each show is actually made rather than assume that studios that often don’t have much of a say are in charge of everything."

And CloverWorks is the more prominent name, especially for English speakers watching the subbed version of the series.

This is also something that Geoff Thew brings up in the last seven minutes of this video around the 18:50 mark:

"I'd bet good money that the last credits were supposed to roll right after that big stone door slammed shut, and I'd further wager that a combination of fan reactions to and dipping ratings for early episodes is what caused the production committee—who are the ones who actually have final say in this, not Cloverworks or even Shirai—to cut their losses and turn that cliffhanger into a skeleton of a conclusion."

I disagree with him on them making the call to retool the series during the clipshow episode between S2e05 and S2e06 though. It doesn’t seem like they had enough time to do that when a single episode of animation takes on average nine months to complete, even with the ridiculous crunch they seemed to be in. My guess is it was made back in early 2020 after Shirai made everyone involved in production aware the manga was ending that year, with the pandemic potentially factoring in to a degree.

He also mentions this a bit earlier:

"It's just such a slap in face to anyone who ever gave a shit about any version of this story. Including the people telling it, apparently, since neither of the anime's screenwriters nor mangaka/series composer Shirai wanted to take credit for the last two episodes. They probably didn't have much say in how it all went down. That's important to keep in mind before you start yelling at animators or even studios on twitter. I guarantee that every adaption that hurts you personally was ten times harder on the people who actually had to make it. As hackishily slapdash as this finale is, a lot of people probably slept under their desks to get it out the door, if they slept at all."

I always come back to this tiny addition toward the end of S2 episode 2 as an indication that on the creative side of things, in storyboarding and animation at CloverWorks, the care was still there at some level.

It was just squashed down in order to cut and condense 146 chapters into 11 episodes for a production that, as ZersEditor puts here, was "bleeding money."

But CloverWorks is less to type out, so they get the majority of the ire over a tragically butchered production in casual conversation.

[charmspoint]

Full Foreword

(Context: I wrote a long foreword for dance with the devil but AO3 nerfed me so I'm posting it here :3)

On 30th of June 2021 I published Rabid Dreams, Neon Lights and Your Teeth on My Tongue. It was supposed to be a one shot for an exchange, one that I at first struggled to write, before suddenly managing to find my stride. And what I wrote ended up capturing my imagination so intensely and viciously that on the night I posted it, I started planning the first prequel.

It’s now 14th of June 2024.

Three years later and we are finally here.

In many ways, this fic is my child. I truly think it’s some of the best writing I’ve ever done and certainly the best, most in depth character study I’ve ever done. This fic technically has two iterations, because when I first started writing it, it was supposed to be a 10k oneshot...then a 20k oneshot...then a 70k oneshot. Faced with such a big number, I couldn’t in my right mind post it all together and expect people to read 70k incessant words of a deep au (without a ship dynamic!) so I set to separating it into chapters. To separate it into chapters each previous section of the oneshot had to be rounded into a story that could stand as a chapter, and then of course there were some things I ended up not liking about certain arcs so I changed them, expanded them, shifted the character roles around, gave certain characters more screen time and more impact and well...you can expect to read about 101k words once this fic is fully finished. Just of this. Just of the prequel from Satoru’s POV. It’s hands down the biggest thing I’ve ever written and the big word count is one of the reasons this took so long. The other reason is that I wanted to have a weekly posting schedule. Currently, all chapters save from last two have been fully written, beta read and edited. I’m confident I can give you a regular posting schedule every Friday around this time.

Now for some dedications.

Firstly, this fic is dedicated to Sesshom0ru, who originated the initial prompt that fired off the oneshot and then this fic right after it. Thank you for patiently waiting for the prequel that was promised to you three years ago lmao!

Secondly, this fic is dedicated to Frappe. I met Frappe when she did art for CotA and we became very good friends, so much so that she was quickly wrapped up into the production of this fic. Frappe was going to draw the cover for this fic as well as spot art for each chapter. We were both very excited about it and talked about it constantly and some of that art, especially the cover which is completely stunning, does exist. But unfortunately, Frappe fell out of contact almost two years ago. I don’t know what happened to her but I hope it’s nothing bad. I hope life was just life and she got carried away with it, I still hope I see her discord avatar pop up in my dms again. Out of respect for Frappe I won’t be posting any of the art she had made for the fic, but this fic is still dedicated to her and I hope that one day she still gets to read it. This is for you Frappe, thank you for loving my boys as much as I did <3.

Thirdly, and most importantly, this fic is dedicated to Ker, my beta reader. If there are readers here who had read multiple of my fics, they are probably familiar with Ker’s name. Ker beta reads most of my big projects and most of the little ones that I think are really good. The reason you might have been seeing less of their name pop up in current projects is because I had them sat and beta reading 18 chapters for this crazy fic. And they did such a wonderful job with it too. I honestly couldn’t ask for a better beta reader if I tried, couldn’t find one if I searched the whole internet for them. Ker brings such incredible love and attention to detail to beta reading and editing my fics. I’ve had a fair number of people edit my fics, but only Ker does it with such care and attentiveness. I often say, me and Ker, we are coparents of this fic. It’s theirs as much as it’s mine. They not only beta read it, but also listened to my endless rants about it, encouraged me when I had doubts and cheered me on when I did something well. They don’t just point out grammar mistakes, they carefully go through the chapter and point out where things don’t flow well, when scenes should be expanded, when things should be better explained. They also react with a lot of baby emojis to Satoru’s antics. I have taken to referring to Satoru as Ker’s son whenever he’s doing something stupid. I cannot overstate how much Ker does and has done for this fic. They truly, honestly make me a better writer, not content with just correcting my grammar and then patting my back, but constantly challenging me to do better, to develop more, to surprise them again. I cannot overstate how important Ker is to my writing process and to me personally. This is why this might sound like someone endlessly gushing about their spouse, lmao. But they do deserve it. They stuck with my crazy, violent little story from beginning to the end and are already at the next starting line, eager for more. Ker is the best beta reader I could ask for, my loudest cheerleader and my most beloved. Thank you darling, for being you, you’re irreplaceable to me <3

It might seem silly to have such a long starting note on a silly little gang au fic of a manga that has almost run its course. But this fic took three years to make. A lot of love was put into it, a lot of energy and effort. I hope you all enjoy it and love it as much I do.

[gascon-en-exil]

(Further) Beyond Dream Daddy: A Year of More Gay Dating Sims

Last year for Pride I made a video sharing my thoughts on a selection of gay dating sims, among them Dream Daddy - by far the most well-known title in that genre. My opinion of that game was rather unfavorable, to say the least, but nonetheless I had a lot of fun discussing the topic. Dating sims rarely get any significant analysis or consideration, so it was a novel experience on that basis alone.

Recently, a patron of mine expressed a desire to see me talk about dating sims again. To save myself some work on a project when I've already got so many others going on at the moment, I've opted to do so here on my blog rather than on my channel this time. This also has the added benefit of giving me more latitude to discuss the NSFW qualities of these games without needing to censor myself. When the majority of the titles in this space are explicitly erotic, that's kind of a big deal.

Anyway! Here's a selection of games that I've played in the past year that I thought were worth looking at in some more detail.

Dear Monster

As the title suggests, this one is for the monsterfuckers out there.

This is, sort of, the second time I'm discussing a project by Y Press Games. I've touched on an earlier game of theirs, To Trust an Incubus...but I found it so unimpressive that I never bothered to review it in-depth. In several ways you can tell that Dear Monster comes from the same creative team: there's a similarly large focus on plot with a bunch of variable endings including some very dark ones, all the characters are vers despite many of them playing into familiar top or bottom archetypes, and most obviously the main theme is monsterfucking.

In this case the selection is much broader, as instead of a single species of pheromone-emitting aliens you get your pick from a variety of fantasy creatures. I say "creatures" because Dear Monster isn't afraid to shy away from furry/scalie erotic content for certain scenes, although most of the time the love interests stick to their humanoid forms. There's

a Western dragon as the violent bad boy love interest;

an Egyptian-flavored god of the dead, whose alternate form resembles Anubis and who plays the standoffish tsundere role;

a kitsune for the mischievous and overtly sexual option;

a unicorn who comes off as the caring submissive choice...mostly;

and an orc, who's had a route announced as free DLC later this year but who currently exists only as a recurring NPC

As I said, like To Trust an Incubus there's a noticeable focus on plot here, with the protagonist being a young man newly introduced to the world of the supernatural and trying to locate his mysteriously vanished grandfather inside an obviously magical mansion. Also like their earlier game, there are some unexpected plot twists that I won't spoil here, and overall I'd say this game pulls them off more effectively even if the ending feels a bit unfinished currently. Maybe they're waiting for the orc character's route to properly tie off the story? In any case, Dear Monster is better written than its predecessor and comes with an appreciable variety of kinky scenarios, and despite the lack of voice acting (a very hit-or-miss topic when it comes to dating sims, as I've discussed) the production values are overall quite good. The animated character portraits have been advertised as a highlight but frankly don't contribute to much, and they have a tendency to slow down my computer. Luckily though, they're easily turned off.

Favorite route: A hard call. They all have their highlights, and I'll probably enjoy Slagathor (the orc) when his route comes out. Hikmat (the god of the dead) probably comes out a bit ahead of the others both for his story and for some unexpectedly adventurous sex scenes, like one that incorporates a variant of tentacle porn - points for creativity there. Faeryn (the unicorn) is the one I find least appealing sexually, but on the flip side his route has some of the most unexpected twists and is probably the most helpful for understanding the game's premise as a whole. There's not really a bad option here.

UPDATE: Now that the final route has been released, I can talk about it. It's fine enough, following similar tracks for its good, neutral, and bad endings. Slagathor is vers, just like every other guy in the game. As for the main plot, it does have a resolution once you've gotten satisfactory endings with all five characters, but because it has to be integrated into all of those route endings and doesn't actually impact any of them it feels rather inconsequential as a result. A bit of a shame, really, but I do respect the boldness of some of this game's narrative chioces.

Camp Buddy

Oh, dear. There are some things I need to make clear with this one from the start...stuff I definitely couldn't talk about on YouTube.

To state the obvious first: yes, the characters are all 18+. It's in their in-game profiles, on promotional material online, and on the disclaimer you have to click on whenever you boot up the game. The main character and all his love interests are specifically stated to be 18-20 years old. However...that doesn't always bear out in the writing. The premise is that they're all campers at a scout-themed summer camp, i.e. not something you'd expect of legal adults, and more than half the time these characters are written with the emotional maturity of boys in their mid-teens. That doesn't extend to the sex scenes, beyond most of them being virginal and clueless but somehow still capable of having mind-blowing sex with no lube and simultaneous orgasms and so forth - all of which is pretty standard for these sorts of games. It doesn't consistently affect their storylines either, as they range from adolescent issues like anxiety over losing a close friend to more young adult material like deciding on career paths and moving on from a bad breakup. Having spent a good bit of my own adolescence in an all-male environment, I found most of the character behavior relatable for that demographic. Outside the sex scenes, Camp Buddy is a sweet and sometimes heartwarming story about friendship and making good memories...but the sex stuff is still there, and I can understand why this game isn't listed on Steam based on the premise alone. It is not, as some online have hyperbolically dubbed it, a "child porn" game, but it can be awkward all the same, and if you, like me, are not into twinks/twunks those scenes aren't going to do much for you.

Leaving that aside, it still took me a while to get into Camp Buddy. I was mostly interested in its sequel, which I'll talk about later in this post, but I wanted to play CB in case I missed out on any context with the second game. This one does feel like a first project; the artwork isn't as clean or varied, the voice acting has some standouts but is overall just average, and the script occasionally reads like it was written by someone whose first language isn't English - where the writing isn't incorrect, exactly, but rather worded in ways that don't sound natural. Not all of the scenes are fully voiced, but I really have to wonder how some of those that are got through all those people without anyone realizing how inorganic the dialogue sounded. The humor at least is pretty consistently good, with a highlight being the one major female character who is an affectionate parody of yaoi fangirls leading to a lot of fourth-wall-breaking jokes. As I said some of the storylines work well, even if the main plot is a clichéd and sometimes treacly "save the camp" routine for most of its run. If you can accept the handwave on the characters' ages for the sexual content, it's not a bad time. Given my familiarity with Fire Emblem and its love of underaged-looking dragon girls, and knowing that there are surely far more dating/porn games that use a similar handwave for female characters, I can give CB a pass. I've never cared for how media directed at straight men never warrants more than a moment's worth of moral outrage while everything else gets endlessly scrutinized.

Favorite route: Yoichi is the twunk-iest of the love interests, and his route is easily the darkest as well. Surprisingly he's not the sole total top option...but the guy who is barely grasps of the concept of masturbation and needs to "research" sex after he fools around for the first time. I suppose someone must be into that. Taiga has the most distinctive route as it was added last and has the largest amount of story variance as well as both topping and bottoming variations, but I find the emotional beats of his story (both in and out of his route) to be paced a bit too oddly for me to give him first prize.

Camp Buddy: Scoutmaster Season

This is why I played Camp Buddy, because I saw its follow-up advertised on Steam and was impressed enough by the production values to check it out. I still bought it from developer BLits's website though because certain scenes are removed in the Steam version (for reasons similar to why Camp Buddy isn't there at all). Anyway, Scoutmaster Season is in just about every way a vast improvement over its predecessor:

Most obviously, the characters here look and act unambiguously like adults. Their storylines are also more mature, as is that of the main plot which concerns the camp expanding after it received a new wealthy investor at the end of CB. This maturity extends to the sex as well. These characters aren't experimenting adolescents but rather men who've been casually involved with one another for some time already (heavily implied in the first game) and whose romantic development thus concerns their relationships becoming grounded in emotional support instead of only hot NSA sex.

Camp Buddy is a decently kinky game in its own right, but the sequel takes advantage of its older characters and really runs with the concept. There's bondage, leather, voyeurism, softcore daddy kink, public sex, several varieties of costume role play including two that verge on pony play, threesomes, and a few types of size kink thanks in *ahem* large part to one of the love interests having such a comically oversized cock that in some encounters it can be seen distending the main character's stomach during penetration. I'm...pretty sure that's not physically possible, but I know it's a fantasy that exists. SS is just as unrealistic when it comes to things like (lack of) lube and refractory periods, but that's to be expected at this point.

I didn't talk about CB's minigames because they're frankly not that impressive, but SS's are both a bit more challenging and, in the case of the foreplay minigame, hotter and more interactive.

The writing is much improved, and flows more naturally. The voicework is overall of a higher quality as well, even with many in the cast reprising their roles. Particularly, the same voice actor plays the main characters of both games, but he sounds much more natural as the deeper-voiced lead here, in contrast to CB where he has to work to sound like a teen. The comic relief is about on par, so it's as entertaining as usual. There's even a yaoi fanboy in this one...who funnily enough never actually gets laid during the story, although the artists threw him a bone or six with a bukkake party crack scene in the extras.

SS's antagonist is both more compelling and more entertaining even though she never becomes a romance option - as should be evident from the pronoun alone. I predicted where the story was going to take her arc the first time I played, and while I was proven right the game didn't follow that thread to its logical conclusion. A bit disappointing, but I imagine that that would have obliterated the tone for the rest of the game and prevented it from ending with fluffy romance or celebratory sex.

There are enough small callbacks to CB that I'm glad I played the first game, but not so many that a newcomer would feel completely lost. As this is the only gay dating sim sequel that I can even think of, I appreciate the attention to continuity.

BLits is currently working on a third game called Jock Studio, unrelated to Camp Buddy but already looking to be an evolution of what they've learned from their first two games. The athletic university premise appears to be a self-indulgent excuse for porn - but I'm more than okay with that seeing how much the quality of their work has improved.

Favorite route: There's only two here, so naming one would be suggesting I dislike the other. In fact, both routes are really solid. I would say that Aiden's story hangs together a little better and feels stronger in its emotional moments (helped greatly by the best vocal performance in either of these games), whereas Goro's route appeals to me more based on raw sex appeal. He's a kinky daddy, what's not to love? Either way, SS is a ton of fun, and of the games in this post it's the one I recommend the most strongly.

Errant Kingdom

I'm of two minds about including this game. I really wanted to have one that would be drastically different from the others I've selected, but at time of writing I haven't done everything there is to do in Errant Kingdom. That's not for lack of time, as it's been released in chapter increments ever since last autumn or thereabouts and finally finished up in February. I've currently completed two of its stories so I feel like I have a solid grasp of what's on offer, but I realize that I haven't seen everything yet.

However, I had to keep pushing myself to play this one. It just doesn't have a very strong hook, in my opinion, but let's talk about the positives. If your main complaint about Dream Daddy is not the lack of hardcore gay sex but rather the inauthenticity of its representation then Errant Kingdom will be more your speed. Your character can be male, female, or nonbinary, and there are two love interests of each designation available. (That both nonbinary options are supernatural non-humans might arguably be a bit of a copout...but I'm not really in a position to judge.) There are also two options for poly relationships, as well as asexual dialogue options although the way the story is set up does still lend itself toward monogamous romance with occasional, vaguely-described (and never visualized) sex scenes. I'd also note that unlike every other visual novel with romantic elements I've ever played, dialogue options are explicitly marked as being romantic, asexual, or poly when applicable. This does make it much easier to get a specific outcome if you're looking for one, but in my view takes away some of the fun of these sorts of games.

Errant Kingdom's story is quite linear regardless of which if any romantic relationship(s) you choose to pursue, with the largest variance coming not from your choice of love interest but from your choice of one of three origins when you're creating your character: an ambassador, a knight, or a nomad. Having played through two of these, this decision greatly impacts the game's opening chapters but ultimately leads into the player characters being three different points of view on the same story, with all the same major set pieces. Errant Kingdom is occasionally clever about this, with the other two PCs popping up in each other's paths every now and then...unseen of course, because this is a game where the main character's physical presence is left entirely up to the imagination. On the other hand though, the different perspectives converging toward a single climax has the clunky side effect of dropping certain NPCs into the story lategame and acting as if you know who they are even if you've never met them in that playthrough.

The story itself isn't terribly fascinating, being a medieval fantasy conspiracy plot involving gods and magical weapons and an 11th hour Chosen One reveal (that isn't the player character, shockingly). If we're talking pseudo-medieval/early modern romantic visual novels, I find I prefer the Chess of Blades approach where each love interest gets his own storyline and so there's more overall variety and less tangled continuity. I've read in places that the later chapters suffered from deadline and creator burnout issues during development, which wouldn't surprise me with how much the pacing speeds up after a certain point.

Favorite route: For origins the ambassador angle suited me better and would probably be my pick overall. The choice of love interest is, as mentioned, actually not all that important, but disgraced former knight Erik hits most of my buttons. It's a shame his poly option is with a woman, because while Maja is my preference of the two female options I wouldn't be invested in her like that. This is the trouble for me with stepping outside the bounds of strictly M/M games.

[firedrakegirl]

The reptile expos were always interesting, ever since I learned I could understand snakes and other reptiles. Since the convention center was a mite chilly, most of the snakes were either sleeping or grumbling. Well, until I made it to a table in the back. Those snakes were a lot more active, probably from the large number of hand warmers, heated blankets, and other warmth producing products. And, if I were to guess, the lump in the keeper’s pocket was a ball of snakes.

I got to the table and a small black, brown, and yellow ball python immediately perked up, nearly shouting. “That’s my human! That one! Mine!”

I immediately wandered to the other end of the table and started looking at some of the other snakes. I could hear the one who’d claimed me kicking up a fuss, but I pretended not to hear it. I looked at the man with the snakes in his pocket. “Can you tell me about this cutie?” I pointed at a random snake.

The man glanced at the fussing snake and back to me. “Well…”

I made eye contact with him, glanced at the fussing snake, and winked. Suddenly, he grinned too. “Well, she is a pastel ghost hognose, about six months old. Would you like to hold her? Fair warning, she can be a little…spicy.”

“I would love to!” I agreed, smiling down at her. She hissed at me in turn. I couldn’t help but laugh.

This continued as I met several other snakes, avoiding the container where the one who’d claimed me was. Some of the snakes had caught on and were making a show of enjoying being held, or got offended and struck at me. I wasn’t bothered by any of it, and was quite honestly enjoying myself. All of the snakes were gorgeous, after all.

Suddenly, there was a pain in my arm as the fussing snake bit me and used that leverage to climb onto my arm and stretch out. “You’re my human. Not theirs.” He hissed angrily. “Mine.”

The keeper chuckled and took the silvery ball python from me. “I think the ruse is up.”

“I think you’re right.” I laughed and turned my attention to the snake on my arm. “Do you have a name, little friend?”

“I am not little!” He hissed.

“You are, compared to me.”

“You understand me?!” He seemed to only just realize I was talking to him.

“Yes I do. And I was always coming to you. But you were being as dramatic as a hognose, so I had to mess with you.”

He made a sound that I'd learned was the snake equivelent of a gasp. “How dare you! I am nothing like a hognose!”

“The way you were trying to get my attemtion says otherwise.” I smiled. “But that's not the point here. I take it you want to come home with me.”

He wrapped around my arm and squeezed tightly. “You're not going anywhere without me ever again.”

“I don't know how to take care of a snake. I can talk to you, but I've never owned one. I don't want to risk hurting you because of my inexperience.”

“I can tell you when I need something else.” He dismissed. “And I'm going to always be with you, so it's fine.”

I glanced up at the vendor. “What do you think?”

“I think I breed Familiars, not normal snakes. Do you know what that means?”

“It mea-hey!”

The vendor reached over and gently flicked him. “Let her answer.”

I smiled softly. “Familiars are the companions to magical people, right?”

“That's a familiar. Upper case F Familiars are that and then some. They're more connected to their human, at a soul level. They can also assist in preforming spells and cleaning up stray magic.”

“then why do you want me?” I looked back down at the snake. “All I can do is talk to reptiles.”

“You're my human. And you can do more.”

“Snake folks, like us, tend to work in different ways. Our magic doesn't even necessarily present the same way that the folks who connect to cats, dogs, and frogs typically do, so it's hard to measure it unless the mage measuring is also a snake mage, or familiar with them.” He explained. “You've absolutely got power, even if you don't know it, otherwise none of my snakes would have taken notice.”

[voskhozhdeniye]

Work Shit

In my late teens, I either read a book or saw an interview with someone, where they were asked what's the difference between being clever and being wise. Their response was that the wise man is the man who, when a problem arises, or they make a mistake, tackle it head on, even when they don't want to, even when there are difficult consequences for their actions. They learn the lesson and use that knowledge to avoid ending up in that circumstance again. Whereas the clever man uses all of his energy to avoid learning from his mistakes.

I work with a bunch of clever people.

Coworker was about to lose her mind this morning. Our other store in the county is having an overstock problem in frozen, sound familiar? There's talk that they're going to send a bunch of people there to go through the stock, and what doesn't go will be packed up and sent to other stores. She's afraid we're going to get sent some of that product. I asked her what's happening up there? She starts listing all of the mistakes he's making. I had to look away because it's everything her ass is doing. She said, they need to get rid of him if he can't do it. I was like, "Oh really...." I know the guy who runs it. He actually has an excuse. He can't read. If I wasn't working with her, she would be in the same boat.

She's a habitual liar. Her bff, who used to be our boss and is her housemate, is one too. That's how she got this job. Now that bff isn't here to cover her ass and throw me under the bus for coworker's mistakes, she's getting exposed.

She will not ask me or Dark Souls coworker for help with the ordering system, but she will ask the other employees who are fucking it up, and complain about it like she does. Our boss told me he's not even going to check behind me anymore. He knows he doesn't have to.

I am ordering extra stock just so I have something to do for 8 hours. Even with the extra stuff I'm ordering, because her numbers are so fucked she's getting 3 times as much stock as I am.

Most of that stuff isn't going anywhere, so she stuffs it onto the shelf to make it look like she doesn't have more overstock than I do. She is trapped in a cycle and refuses to accept that she needs to change.

@yoddel you liked my post from Tuesday about my "Dwight from The Office" coworker. He's very similar to her. He works one way and refuses to change. He also does little petty shit. He locked myself and another coworker out as we were coming in to work. He looked directly at us and locked the door. He will get to the time clock and intentionally clock in slowly to make the people behind him clock in late.

Each of the grocery night stockers have their own u-boats for their overstock, which are labeled. He works bottled water and will overstuff his u-boats. This puts stress on the u-boats. All of his u-boats eventually develop a unique wobble. He will unload other people's stock, remove the labels, and switch his broken u-boats with theirs. He gets screamed at almost once a week by someone for something he does. He's afraid of black people, so he pretty much avoids me at all costs.

Rape coworker and rape coworker Jr have been blocked on social media by almost every woman we work with.

This morning, rape coworker asked the woman I work with if she owned a strapon, and if not, would she like to borrow his?

He, too, will not change. He has diabetes and has been dying because it's given him erectile dysfunction.....He has no filter. He openly talks about his masturbation and porn habits. He almost lost his foot last year because of the diabetes. For over a year, he's been begging his doctor for viagra. His doctor told him that if he got his diabetes under control, he wouldn't need it. He refuses to change his diet. Even when he was in the hospital last year, he told Dark Souls coworker, who was the only one to visit him, that he wasn't going to change.

He's a 50 year old incel, a textbook example. Does the whole claims he's gay/trans to get close to women bullshit.

Jr doesn't do that, but they truly act like father and son.

We have a mentally handicap coworker who likes to grope both men and women. Nobody wants to get him in trouble for it because they feel sorry for him. He also thinks he's everyone's boss and acts accordingly. He does not respect personal space. Not even rape coworker makes me as uncomfortable as he does. He sets off my fight or flight response when he gets too close.

Rape coworker still has his job because people also feel sorry for him. He's also the type that would shoot up the store if he got fired. His sister has enough guns for a small police force.

We have a coworker in the bakery who has consistently run off every black employee they've had back there.

We have an idiot coworker who bragged to everyone that he was going to call out on Mother's Day and use a family emergency as the excuse. While he was out playing hooky on Mother's Day, him and his daughter were in a golf cart accident. She broke her pelvis.

I do not fuck with that dude.

We also live in MAGA land, so there's a lot of Trump cultists.

Our store manager is a certified girl boss. She has a "boss lady" plaque on her desk and everything.

Those are the children I work with. Those are the main things they do that piss everyone off. But the major sin they all commit is the fact that they all make work harder for others. They make everything physically, mentally, and emotionally harder than it has to be. They duck their responsibilities, and others have to do their work for them. They have grown accustomed to it and will not change. All they do is pile more stress on top of the stress outside of work.

When I'm at work, my goal is to make things go as smoothly as possible for others. It's frustrating to have people who do not have the same goal.

They are set in their ways.

[strangecloud]

My favorite Electronic Music

Or, EDM is good and Y'all are cowards

I feel there's a lot of music elitism around electronic music. It's not my favorite for deep listening but a lot of it is great background for relaxing, or gaming or doing a myriad other tasks and I feel it gets dismissed very easily without a fair shake. The genre deserves some appreciation. So here's some cool albums. I might catch some flak for saying these are EDM but the title flows better like this. Anyway, enjoy.

1. Ratatat - Classics

Classics by Ratatat is just plain cool. The production is good and it doesn't rely too much on synthetic sounds, with some drops of distortion and acoustic here and there. It's exactly what it says on the tin, solid ass bangers that became instant load-bearing classics in any playlist.

2. Fartbarf - Dirty Power

The power do be dirty in this one. This one is heavier on synths and a lot of them are distorted as well. It's as electronic as one can get, as even the vocals don't escape some form of processing in the production. Still, it isn't as saturated as you might expect from something like Living Tombstone.

3. Pure Reason Revolution - Amor Vincit Omnia

I fell in love with Pure Reason because of their The Dark Third album from, I wanna say, 2006? The things I loved about it were the powerful intros, riffs, and great harmonies. If I'm not mistaken, Jon Courtney's wish to dabble in more electronic influences was a factor in the near decade-long hiatus the band went through, but a lot of the music they actually made in their more electronic phase was very good. Amor Vincit Omnia is the best of theirs in this category, in my humble opinion.

4. Mike Oldfield - Tubular Beats

Mike Oldfield is known for being a progressive rock virtuoso and composed Tubular Bells, a seminal classic most might recognize from 1973's The Exorcist. What is less known is that Mike has attempted to incorporate electronic and trance elements into his music, and this album has a bunch of remixes by one York, who I personally am not familiar with. Still, the beats are good. Were I a surfer dude, I'd hazard saying they are indeed tubular.

[clecorpprotection]

A Whole New World 2023-2024- Family Safety Strategies

There used to be acceptable norms in our society that have seemed to go by the wayside with the current generation. As parents and grandparents, our job at this point is to keep our families as safe as we can and teach them how to do the same for theirs. I'm not going to make this article a political statement on "the ruination of modern civilization", "the Government's inability to control gun violence", "Middle Eastern conflict", "failures in today's education system", "the psychological issues stemming from single parent households and the absence of the father", or even "the destruction of faith based freedoms and the attempt to take God out of society", etc.... Instead, this is a story about how to keep yourself and your family safe during 2023-2024, while continuing to live a happy and productive lifestyle relatively fear free!

As we learned this past Thanksgiving Holiday weekend, even the most wholesome of family events, a Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony in a heavily protected environment like Public Square in Downtown Cleveland, Ohio is not exempt from the risk of violence and the risk of danger to you and your family. If you would have asked me the question "Do you feel safe taking your family to outdoor Holiday celebrations?", 20-years ago when my children were babies; I would have told you, ABSOLUTELY! It was a different time. Our society was recovering from the terrorist attacks of September 11th, our security forces were properly staffed and supported, the community as a whole looked out for each other, and as human beings we showed a little more love towards one another. But as we get further away from an event that changed our landscape, we get closer to a newer greater set of challenges that can affect our lives profoundly. This is not a time to surrender to what lurks around the corner, but rather become more aware, strategic, and brave in how you continue to live and enjoy your life!

Below, are some simple strategies you can implement to help ensure your preparedness for emergencies/crisis situations while enjoying the Holidays. "Fearless is not the absence of fear. Fearless is living in spite of those things that scare you."- Taylor Swift

When planning to go to an event, have a plan. if you are not familiar with the area open your favorite mapping APP and look at a satellite view of the area. Know the points of entry into the area, exits, public access areas nearby where you can shelter, or even identify friends, co-workers, and relatives that may live nearby who would be willing to offer you a safe rally point should you need it. Also, evaluate the parking situation to determine if there is a spot that seems well lit, secured, and easily accessible to an exit route that you can easily and quickly get to should you need. Many of you right now might be saying to yourself "I'm not a Navy Seal", you're right! You're not, that's why being prepared with easy information for your family is important. Discuss this information with your spouse, significant other, friend attending with you, or oldest child attending (preferably someone over the age of 14), and determine what makes sense for your circumstances. Also, keep in mind (if you have a disabled individual traveling with you), what are the mobility challenges we might encounter? I have a son who is in a motorized wheelchair, when attending events, we have to plan for power issues, geographical issues, parking access, sidewalk or street access, shelter access if needed due to climate weather, and other comfort concerns before heading out. Keep a Go-Bag of essential supplies in your vehicle at all times: bandages, sterilizer, water, snacks and canned pre-cooked food (beans, sardines, spam, cocktail wieners, beef jerky, smokies, etc..), thermal or regular blankets, a mobile charging device/jump starter, pen/paper (to jot down immediately any relevant facts observed/witnessed during a crisis while fresh). The immediate call to action should a situation arise is to get to immediate safety and secondary, is to get to your vehicle to flee to longer term safety (home, hospital, fire station, police station, military base, etc.). If you are able to flee, contact a law enforcement agency immediately to report your location and safety status. Also, make sure that you notify friends or family of your intent to attend and allow them access to your location VIA your cell phone. Almost all major carriers either have software or your manufacturer has the ability to allow/disallow location sharing internally from the device. Should a crisis arise, it is always nice for a concerned individual to see your location should you need them to call authorities.

Keep your group intact and those old enough to understand your plan for the day, KEEP THEM INFORMED! A crisis/emergency is never planned, but you can be. Work with those in your family/friend group who are attending and mature enough to understand inherent risks associated with public gatherings, informed and prepared on your plan.

Make sure that everyone old enough has a specific job (having a job to complete in most, will delay the effect of shock and keep them focused on the task at hand), work together as a team and embrace your personal safety as a group effort. Once you have arrived, look in all directions to size up the crowd, street closures, police/security presence, medical support services and their locations. Also, evaluate any day of changes to your rabbit hole (escape route) preparation pre-event. Local law enforcement most definitely will put up some sort of physical barriers the day of, that you may not have expected in your planning. This is typically done to deter the assumed "Bad Guys" but may as well affect you. Evaluate who is around you in the crowd. If there are people who may take this event as an opportunity to protest or rally for some political cause, move away from them. Look for the higher concentration areas of law enforcement/security presence and get near them, you can make a fairly good bet, that those with nefarious intentions will not culminate around them. Plus, Cops are usually great equalizers to reduce stress and fear with young ones. Don't conduct yourself as being overly zealous or terrified, but rather understand your mental preparations have provided you with a tool to be safe and to enjoy the celebrations.

As a boy growing up in the late sixties and seventies, the as I like to call it "Kid Leash", was probably one of the most popular tools available to moms at the time. You saw them everywhere, the grocery store, the park, the mall, any outdoor experiences, amusement parks, etc..... At some point the predominant opinion of American's became that it felt like people were treating their children like dogs. Child Safety Restraints are a tool, no less important than having your child in a safety seat in the car. It's a cheap and effective tool to keep young ones within reach at all times, while still affording them the ability to walk and experience the world from their viewpoint. Also, should the chaos of a situation arise, its one less hurdle to clear when trying to keep all the members of your party together and safe. Forget what others may think and their opinions with regard to it being cruel to the psyche of the child. Think about it through the prism of what would be worse, in mass chaos or even just a large crowd, my child wonders off and goes through the trauma of being lost from Mommy and Daddy, or worse yet, becomes a tragic statistic of the abduction and human trafficking industry. I don't mean to be condescending, but we need to move past looks and feeling about our family's safety and become tactically effective in keeping our family whole. The days of kids riding their bikes through the neighborhood until the streetlights come on is over, we live in a much different society with different parameters.

I am a true proponent in one's right to protect themself, but as a reasonable and respectful firearms owner, there is a time and a place for everything. Many of these events that we are talking about spend a substantial amount of money on perimeter and crowd enforcement measures. DON'T DO SOMETHING THAT TAKES AWAY RESOURCES FROM PROTECTING THE WHOLE! Expect that your ability to conceal your firearm for your personal protection is directly contradictory to law enforcement's requirement to keep everyone safe. The above tactics in this article are meant to prepare you to react quickly to protect your family and loved ones, without creating an additional threat to yourselves or others, in what could be unrecognizable intent and therefore putting you and others in jeopardy when you pull a weapon and are assumed to be a physical threat to others. When going to large PUBLIC gatherings and events, your best weapon is a well thought out defense and strategy to exit an area quickly and effectively. Remember, what you see as a means to protect you and your family, will undoubtedly hinder and delay the ability to remediate the actual threat!

As someone who spends a tremendous amount of time practicing my marksmanship, active shooter protocols, unarmed self-defense and several other skills, the first piece of an effective active shooter protocol is to: know when to run, know when to hide and know when to fight. But to keep everything real, if it comes down to having to fight, understand that someone in your group will most likely be a casualty. Get those you love and care about moving to a safe location first, then make the much-needed sacrifice to secure them time to escape. Remember in an emergency/crisis situation your safety plan should be to create distance and time from the threat. Communication is key with your group; be precise about what is needed in as few clear words as possible to not create additional confusion.

If you are interested in additional safety training in the Northeast Ohio area, below I have listed some resources:

Action Defense, LLC- Advanced Civilian Firearms Training- 440-218-2029 or visit their website: actiondefense.com

Cleveland Corporate Protection Services, LLC- Our Training Commanders are former Federal Air Marshals and Law Enforcement Academy instructors to help provide you with a perspective from what law enforcement will be doing during crisis and how you can help without being a distraction or obstacle. - 216-307-1870 or visit their website: clevelandcorporatesecurity.com

[monogatcri]

Anonymous submitted:

I stole a peek into my friend’s drafts of OCs that they like to shove into their dusty closet (aka google docs) and much to my own surprise I think I like the spare shogun puppet one (based on Ei’s lore stories about making “countless experiments” and “many failed products”) because it’s such a delightful mix of serious but also wacky. To quote another friend of another fandom that I frequent: “instead of choosing sugar, spice and rainbow sprinkles, they really woke up and chose violence, fire ants, wasabi-flavored Doritos and a touch of blowtorch to make Teyvat’s most bizarre crème brûlée.” And might I personally add, it’s been sprinkled with the chaotic flavors of other animes you’re most likely not familiar with. Example POV from an outside perspective: You’re a Treasure Hoarder and you come across a lovely lass in the dead of night, and think she’ll make for an easy target to rob. Even moreso as you get closer and notice that she’s dragging something that is, by the sound of it, quite heavy (like a forest boar or a crocodile or something after a hunt). But then you get closer, and you see that she’s dragging not a boar, or a crocodile— It’s a Ruin Grader. Not its eyeball-core-thingamajig. Not one of its arm. Not of its legs. A WHOLE-ASS RUIN GRADER. And you keep seeing her several times doing a bunch of other crazy shit. And your confusion (and mounting fear) triples when she washes out the hair dye and you realize she resembles the Raiden Shogun. Oh, you know, the crazy lightning booba sword lady that dusted one of the Fatui Harbingers like the latter was a bug spinning cobwebs in her house? The girl: “Ehe, m—me? I’m just a housewife—” Treasure Hoarder: 😭 “‘JUst A hOUse wIfe’ mY ASS!!! WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU—” Insert that woman yelling at a cat meme (with the Treasure Hoarder as the woman yelling and the girl as the cat). Why am I dropping this in your inbox? Because I can imagine see your Niwa as the other woman holding back the first one (the Treasure Hoarder crying and losing their mind). Obvs Niwa is (unfortunately) not in the actual drafts cuz he’s, like, dead…but I couldn’t help imagining your Niwa in this kind of scenario since the Treasure Hoarder is going to be a running gag (the poor soul). 😬

I'll be the first to admit that I'm very ignorant of many animes! I am a I know of them more than I am a I've watched that one in a lot of cases (if I'm not outright just plain ???)! But, agreed, that there are lots and lots of examples of what you speak of with the characters in Genny Pact! Even some of the NPCs have that about them, and it makes me love them all the more since they, somehow, win my heart that way!

Oh, wow, your friend has a very interesting and fun sounding oc there! I'm unsure if the treasure hoarder is also an oc of theirs, but I love both of them! The poor treasure hoarder...

[chill-pills-yandere-haven]

Dreams of Coffee and K-pop pt.2

Pt.1

An: I found the emoji!

Tw: yandere, implied murderous intent

Disclaimer: Yanderes are abusive, this is not love.

Art cred: Kackaorz1 on Twitter

It was the day of the concert. You had been listening to the 4NEMO music that your friend had been recommending you and had gotten quite familiar with it. Now, you were dressed in your favourite outfit, ready to attend the concert with your best friend. It was two hours before the concert started, but Venti advised you to come early so you and your friend could hang out with them and watch them warm-up. 4NEMO had gotten closer to you in the time before the concert. The boys texted you constantly and you got attached, welcoming them into your tight little circle of trust. You even all had a group chat with just you and the boys. They proved to be a pleasant way for you to blow off steam from your classes and relax so you welcomed them. Just a week after you all had met, 4NEMO had a new hit album called "Coffee Dream". It had become your new favourite album from them, containing all of the things you loved in music. Almost as though it was made with you in mind. You even set your ringtone to the instrumental of one of the album's songs. A beep resounded from your phone as you looked yourself over in the mirror. A text from Venti, " Hey cutie, just wondering if you need a ride to the concert, I'd be happy to give you a ride!" The nickname 'Cutie' had been something that sort of just happened, no inside joke, just Venti teasing you. You smile and chuckle a bit then answer him. "Yeah sure, I'm already ready so you can come now and I'm sure that they're ready too so you can pick us up now." Five minutes later you received another text telling you that Venti was now at your apartment. Making sure to fix your hair, you went outside. Outside was a black limousine waiting for you. "Get in, cutie! The others are starting warmups!" Venti called to you as you got in the limo, admiring the interior of the vehicle. Vent pulled you to his side, thighs touching. You were confused at his actions but then Venti slung his arm around your shoulder and explained. "Well we've got to make sense for your friend, right? Ehe." He giggled at the end. In return, you shrugged but it did make sense so you didn't mind. Plus, this was Venti, he's always like this. Once you got to your friend's house you saw them with a 4NEMO glow stick in hand and wearing a 4NEMO tee with the group's logo on it. "Hey, bestie! And Venti!" You laughed at the stupid nickname and replied. "Ok, you know you are my best friend and I love you platonically, and that I would die for you if necessary, but do not call me bestie. You can call me anything else, hell I'd even prefer if you called me your 'stupid butt-kicking partner in arson,' than whatever that was. Now, let's pretend that never happened and erase that from our memories. 'Kay?" This was just harmless teasing as you two had done much more stupid things and had many more inside jokes that no one except for you two knew about. "Aye aye, captain!" You talked about random subjects as the car ride went on. And Venti held onto you the whole way, almost as if he thought you might disappear. Maybe even a bit more than usual. Once you got to where the concert would take place, Venti escorted you both to the private room where the boys were practicing. "Hey, guys, I brought a little something!" Venti called to the other 4NEMO members, a hand on your shoulder tugging you to him. All the group looked up from what they were doing. From Kazuha trying out different chords on the electronic piano to xiao going over some dance moves that you hadn't seen yet, to Aether doing vocal exercises. Aether and Kazuha meeting you with soft smiles. Xiao looking away from you after he met your eyes. "So that's what you went off to do, and I almost thought you were trying to skip out on practice." Xiao retorted. "Well it is nice to have you here with us, and you too." Aether addressed you and your friend. It was surprisingly relaxing watching them warm-up for the concert. The practice was flawless, clear that everyone had already gotten everything down to the most minuscule detail. "4NEMO, you ready? Shows about to

begin." One of their workers called, you fairly remember her name being Rika or something along those lines. The boys nodded already dressed in their beautiful yet casual costumes. "Wooh! Go 4NEMO!" You called to them as you and your friend headed for where the audience had already situated itself. (On the other side) That past week, they had been almost three times more productive with you as their inspiration. Starting and releasing a new album dedicated to you in just a week. With you on their brains, inspiration was abundant. They were more devoted to you than even some of their superfans, Kazuha even stalking your social media in secret so he could make sure that his next compositions were to your taste. 4NEMO had been trying to express their love for you in the clearest yet unsuspicious way they could. Even referencing the day you met with the album. Nevertheless, you seemed to be only interested in friendship. No matter, everything would go their way in the end. Venti had put in so much effort to have you by his side, even if it was for just before the concert. Having to sneak away from the group without being noticed to go get you, paying the limo driver extra as he was only supposed to have driven 4NEMO there. Even holding back what we wanted to say to make you ditch that lousy friend of yours. Just for you to voice your feelings of devotion for them while he was in the same car!? So oblivious, so innocent, he had to protect you. The other boys were also surprised to see you but welcomed your presence. They all thought you would only show up at the concert, not before. But they all loved to indulge in you, so no one really minded Venti's little stunt. 4NEMO appeared on the stage. Smiling at the crowd with meaningless movie star smiles. At everyone except for you of course. All their eyes scoured the crowd for you, happy to see that you were close to the stage. Close enough, to tempt them into pulling you up to be with them. But, they had an image to uphold. So they held off on the longing looks at you and just focused on impressing you. "Hey, guys! Who's ready for a 4NEMO concert!?" Aether grinned and asked the crowd? The audience wooed back, even you, something the boys genuinely smiled at. "Well then, we've ought to get this party started!" Venti cried as the first song started. The boys knew that this had been your first concert as you preferred more quiet, secluded ways to spend your time while your friend was the one dragging you to interact with the outside world. And they were determined to make it special. Make this day the one that makes you as head over heels in love with them as they are. They started with a fast fan favourite, the one that you had as your ringtone. The one they created as a way to only express a fraction of the passion they felt for you. Xiao moved beautifully and elegantly as he sang. Venti hit a flawless high note that even most female singers couldn't reach. Kazuha harmonized with them in such a beautiful way that it could take one's breath away, rapping clearly and rapidly. Aether was the one who pulled it all together, he was the leader after all. 4NEMO was pleased to find that you were enjoying the change of environment. Moving your head and singing along with some of the songs you knew. Just one small problem. Though it was an irritation, the boys kept up in the perfect way only they could achieve. The problem was that you just had to bring your friend with you, Venti told the others what he had heard in the car, about how you would even die for them. And they just had to separate you two, it was too much jealousy to handle. It drove them even further, made them crave your praise even more. Even just a small compliment would suffice. So they worked their hardest at this concert. Making sure you have the time of your life. The concert was finally over and now you could be reunited with the boys. They swarmed around you once you had arrived at their private room. Asking you how the experience was and was delighted that you said that it was "absolutely

surreal" and that you loved it. It might not have been a direct 'I love you.' But it would work for now. Though they couldn't be with you in public due to their status, they would still have you. They would still make you theirs. They would remove anyone to make that happen. And it seemed like your friend was going to be the first.

[goatchulu]

jealous! lucifer x gender neutral! reader

Genre: fluff, ig? slight smut in the end.

Fandom: obey me!

Prompt: you find yourself in a fake relationship, and now you're introducing your "boyfriend" to the demom brothers. they don't take it so well, especially lucifer.

Warnings: mentions of drinking, mentions of harassment and stalking, they make out in the end, reader's gender is unmentioned for your imagination (and inclusion).

lucifer takes another swig of his whisky, a slight burning sensation lingering on his throat. no matter the amount of alcohol he consumed that night, he couldn't escape the bitter feeling that was left inside his chest.

the two of you have been hitting it off pretty well for the past few weeks, if he could say so himself. the harmless complimenting and the subtle glancing had turned into ardent flirting and shows of affection overtime. you two were finally going somewhere with your mutual pinning, or so he thought.

lucifer didn't think his small (not so small) crush on you would lead anywhere, really. nor did he think you would reciprocate his infatuation. but with all the friendly interactions you had of late, anyone would assume you two were together in a romantic light.

now look, lucifer prides himself as a person. he was assertive, efficient, productive, level-headed and the voice of reason when stress is most prominent. but as a lover? lucifer wasn't so sure. he assumed you'd like someone more jolly and eccentric like mammon or someone more confident and charismatic like asmodeus. he didn't expect for you to even spare him a second glance when it came to the dating game. lucifer was a busy man after all, and he wasn't the most expressive when it came to emotions; not very ideal for a lover.

but what lucifer also did not expect was for you to bring home a common demon boy and introduce him as your significant other.

let's just say that all the built up tension and courting were all ruined by a single dinner party.

you had gathered all the demon brothers earlier that morning, claiming you had an important announcement to make. you went as far as inviting diavolo and his loyal butler, barbatos, to spend the evening over for dinner. they thanked you for the invitation, but they unfortunately, could not attend because of their hectic schedules.

lucifer, on the other hand, was more than happy to accept your invitation (though he was quick to cover up the smile he held when you came up to him). seeing as he already lives under the same roof as you, anways. his happiness would soon be diminished and grinded into dirty, pathetic, dust, though.

lucifer's eyes narrow as mammon's loud laughter bounces off the walls of the dining room. lucienne, your "boyfriend", had managed to crack the demon up with one of his silly stories about a strange elderly wizard that sold expensive medication made out of fairy wings that turned out to just be bedazzled dragon fly wings. he worked wonders with the avatar of greed, considering the fact that just a moment ago, mammon was cursing in jealousy and resentment as you sat with your newly introduced boyfriend.

luficer would've told mammon to shut up, but he feared saying something far more vulgar out of anger. the previous tension was already eased into a more domesticated athmosphere (credits to lucienne's charm and humor), lucifer didn't want to ruin dinner for his brothers, and especially not for you.

i mean, lucifer felt betrayed, he felt used and-- and played. how could you lead him on like this? but deep inside, he knew there was something else. he felt disappointed, he felt defeated, he felt crushed, he wished he'd done something sooner before this lucienne stole you away from him.

but anyways, back to the dinner party.

"you seem unusually quiet, lucy." asmo teases from across lucifer's seat. the phrase seems to capture everyone's attention, all eyes now on the grimacing and glaring lucifer.

"asmo's right, you haven't uttered a word since lucienne arrived, lucifer. is something wrong?" you chime in, causing lucifer to perk up. the thought of you worrying about his state sent sparks into his heart, but they were quick to disappear when lucienne asks him the same question.

"i'm fine." he replies to your concern, unable to hide the venom that strung on to his words. this only causes asmodeus to snicker, and leviathan to sink deeper into his seat. everyone else watches in concern as lucifer downs another glass of demom whiskey. you're about to ask him again, unsure about his reply, but he stops you before you could even form a word.

"i said i'm fine."

the air is tense, until eventually, mammon gasps out of nowhere. "don't tell me! lucifer is jealous!!~" he repeats in a sing song manner, only irking lucifer even further. no one else speaks up, the whole situation akward enough.

after a while, though, lucienne speaks up. he gestures at mammon, especially. hoping to stop the demon from escalating the situation. "hey mammon, wanna hear about that one time i accidentally professed my love for my eight grade math teacher?" mammon only settles back into his seat, ready for another laughing fit. the avatar of pride snaps at this, slamming his fists down the table before abruptly excusing himself with a "i have something to do."

he spares you one last glance. his heart aching with guilt from the way you had lowered your head in shame. lucifer didn't want to make you feel like he owned you, or that you weren't allowed to be with someone else... he just, he has enough reason to justify his anger right now and he really wants to dwell in it. he turns his head away from you, biting his lip to contain the guilt and pain that was threatening to seep out. he doesn't turn to look back as he walks away from the dining room in long and rushed strides.

lucifer walks down the dark hallways of lamentation, familiar with every nook and cranny the mansion had. he sighs in relief as his palm reaches out for a familiar door. it creaks as lucifer walks into his room, sounding just as glum as lucifer is.

he heads straight to his paperwork, silently hoping that they would provide him some sort of comfort. he tries to focus on anything but the thought of you or your unavailability, his mind barely processing any of the words that were printed out in front of him. he groans, his hands pulling on his jet black hair in frustration.

i mean, he should've expected this. lucienne was everything lucifer thought you would love. funny outgoing, caring, expressive, charismatic, a smooth talker and he looked at you with utmost respect and admiration. i mean, who in their right mind would choose old-schooled lucifer over the flawless lucienne?

you deserve lucienne and although lucifer thinks that no one in the three realms could ever deserve to call you theirs, he still thinks that lucienne is more deserving of you than lucifer could ever be. what were you doing to the poor demon? he was never one to admit defeat like this, and he especially wasn't the type of person that'd lower themself like this.

his rollercoaster of thoughts are interrupted by a gentle knock on the door. his ears already familiar with this particular knocking pattern. he can't help but straighten himself up, suddenly aware of the way his hair is all sprawled out. he slicks it down with saliva, muttering a small "enter" soon after he finshes checking on his appearance.

his mood lightens just a little bit at the sight of your face. as much as lucifer wants to hate you right now, he couldn't possibly feel that way towards you. never, not in a quadrillion light years.

you sit down in front of him, a genuine look of concern on your face. this makes lucifer visibly frown, catching you a bit off guard. "i wanted to talk to you about something, lucifer." his eyes grow curious and a bit hopeful, wishing it were about something that would distract him from the current situation or give him even the tiniest bit of closure.

"it's about lucienne." and once again, you manage to crush all his hope with only a few words. lucifer swears that if he hears that name one more time, he would personally shove your lovely boyfriend down the deepest depths of the underworld.

you watch his brows furrow and his fist tighten on his quill. lucifer looks far from happy to hear you talk about your significant other right now. "look, i know you'd rather not hear about lucienne again, but it's really really important and i want you to just hear me out. just this once, please?"

lucifer couldn't stand the pleading look you were giving him. your puppy eyes were a weapon that you used on him often, and they always managed to work. a tired sigh leaves his lips, if it meant getting it over with then he'd listen. "fine," he snaps, not before rubbing at his temple in obvious distress. he's said fine, but his body language told you otherwise.

"someone's kind of harassing lucienne at the moment. stalking him, giving him unwanted gifts and constantly professing their love for him when he's told them multiple times that it made him uncomfortable. they're an admirer of some sorts. i'm posing as lucienne's lover in hopes that they'd back off for a while, but i wanted to see if you and diavolo could do some actual help. it's worrisome, really. and it's been stressing lucienne out for the past couple of weeks. pretending to be his significant other is the most i can do for him, i hope you understand."

lucifer only freezes in shock, guilt washing over him all so suddenly. you call out for him, effectively snapping him out of his short daze. of course you'd offer to help lucienne out, you've always been a kind person. in lucifer's eyes, atleast. he coughs into his hand, avoiding eye contact with you as he degrades himself for his previous selfishness.

"of course, i'll do my best to make sure this harasser is punished. the school and i will ensure that lucienne won't be seeing this stalker anytime soon. just keep supporting him like this, i suppose. tell him he can sleep here for the night. thank you for informing me about this." you smile at lucifer's response, relief overwhelming your senses. if this meant that lucienne was finally going to be safe and unbothered, you were overjoyed.

you jump at lucifer, thanking him, all the while, squeezing the life out of him. his heart races impossibly fast at the gesture, and you can't help but smirk at the red that tainted his cheeks. "just so you know, i still like you. and only you, lucy."

his breath comes to a halt. he was no longer able to contain the butterflies that crowded his stomach; shock and well, pure bliss apparent on his face. "does this mean i can kiss you?"

"do anything as you please."

lucifer lunges at you. capturing your lips into a hungry and impatient kiss. his hands roam all over your torso, looking for anything he could hold onto. he settles for your waist and you drape your hands over his shoulders. heaven knows how long he's been waiting for this moment.

he manages to stumble through his room, leading you two to his bed. you part as he pushes you down to sit at the end of his king sized bed. he grins at the sight of you, disheveled and thirsty for more. the avatar of pride couldn't help but be excited for the faces you'll make in the unholy endeavors he's planning for you. he'll devour you, tear apart every innocent limb you have in your body. his imagination runs wild as he thinks of the many ways he'd mark you as his, exhibit you to the world and spread you wide open for his contenders to see. for them to know just how pathetic and needy lucifer could make you in an instant.

he bends down to kiss you again, pushing against your tounge with his own. he squeezes your thighs, digging his nails deep into the skin under the cloth still covering you. groans and grunts leave your lips as he countinues to caress your plush thighs.

as you two part, panting, a newfound possessiveness overtakes lucifer's eyes.

"you're mine."

[happymetalgirl]

Periphery - Periphery IV: Hail Stan

Periphery is one of those bands that I think draws way more polarized opinions than they need to. When it comes to them, it's either the big djentheads who appreciate what they do or the rest of the metal world that just can't get past Spencer Sotelo's vocal style. While it did take me a while to get used to, I eventually came around to Spencer's vocals around their second album.

Even though I am now on the fan side of the Periphery dichotomy, I have actually never been much of a fan of their beloved self-titled debut; I've always found to be kind of an overdrawn prototype for what was to come. I gave it a listen not too long ago before this album dropped and it again confirmed my position on it. I did of course find their sophomore effort to be a lot more polished and for the better.

It was with the Clear EP, though, and the subsequent, long-awaited Juggernaut double release though that I really found myself drawn to Periphery, and largely for Spencer's incredible melodies. The band were starting to really find the dynamic between anthemic choruses and crushing djenty heaviness that allowed both of those facets of their sound to compliment each other exquisitely. Songs like "Parade of Ashes", "Pale Aura", and "Feed the Ground" brought the best out of Spencer's slightly scratchy high range through anthemic melodies and set up the rest of the band for the best of the heaviness they had to offer.

The band really set the gold standard for themselves in a lot of ways with Juggernaut though, refining everything that made their sound already great at its best and raising it to a new best. There's djent at its most powerful on songs like "MK Ultra" and "Hell Below", which is absolutely filthy, slow 8-string deliciousness, and the absolutely ripping breakdown of "The Bad Thing" still fucking gets me every time I hear it (and I've heard it a lot). Spencer's highs at the climax of "The Scourge" and his entire performance on the also invigorating melodies of "22 Faces" are absolutely phenomenal as well, and the risky melodic direction of "Alpha" paid off stupendously. Needless to say, I really liked Juggernaut, and while 2016's Periphery III: Select Difficulty wasn't a complete letdown, it definitely missed that divine spark and seemingly the long grooming process that the Juggernaut albums did. It had its moments, but it's still just so overshadowed by the band's magnum opus.

So now a little further down the road from that towering monument of theirs, the band are back with their fourth self-titled album, which is another respectably ambitious effort that seeks to build its own monstrous djent castle on bigger compositions and darker themes. At 63 minutes, Periphery: Hail Stan is quite a beast of its own. Sonically, much of this album feels like a combination of the grandiosity and untethered heaviness of Juggernaut and the rawness and stylistic tendencies of the band's debut LP, and the mixture is, to a degree, predictably mixed.

As much as I love big, ambitious prog metal epics, and I love the idea of kicking an album off with one, the nearly 17-minute, string-backed "Reptile" that starts the album feels so unusually meandering and unnecessarily dragged out for Periphery, and despite the few shining moments in the track, it seems more like the band just wanted to make their longest song than anything else. So while it's not a particularly great start to the album, it certainly comes with enough highlights to not sink it immediately, and it does get better from there. The determinedly deathy, djenty, and eventually anthemic lead single "Blood Eagle" that follows the somewhat misdirected epic finds the band channeling their Juggernaut form into a much more focused and perfected piece than the preceding track, and it very much confirms where the band's strengths still mainly lie. The eerily relevant "CHVRCH BVRNER" subsequently carries the heavy momentum further by upping the speed and even the black metal intensity. Still, the band manage to impressively work in a sweet and fitting melodic vocal hook seamlessly, a testament to their progression as a group and proficiency with their common elements.

The album's second single, "Garden in the Bones", breaks the "kvlt" vibe with brighter, less aggressive instrumentation, hearkening to more ethereal prog metal anthems like "Heavy Heart" and "Priestess" from Juggernaut. I'm surprised the band used it as a single because it's not one of their most impressive contrasts to their heavy style on the album. An electro synth line then opens the following song "It's Only Smiles" much like that of "Alpha", but unlike "Alpha", Spencer's reverting to the debut LP's pop punk melodic tendencies on this song are not effectively balanced and given the vigor they had on the Juggernaut classic. It's not the worst example of the style, but it is the kind of song the band's and Spencer's detractors can point to to feel justified in calling Periphery weak (which is bullshit even just looking at this song in the context of melodic hardcore).

"Follow Your Ghost" follows with more indulgent heaviness but not really much in the way of tasty riffs, unique grooves, or infectious vocal melodies. It's clearly meant to simply juxtapose the lighter atmosphere of the previous track, which it does wel enough at an aesthetic level, but it's a little bit of an autopilot track. The electro beat that starts the next song, "Crush", ushers in an electronically supplemented, bass-y rocker that outshines much of what Underoath and Bring Me the Horizon were attempting on their recent albums. Its a bit long and I wish the climax was a little more climactic, but its consistent infectious bass and the swagger the band are able to pull off with it make up for it.

The following song, "Sentient Glow", is a reworking of a song from a previous side project of Misha Mansoor's and Mark Holcomb's, and it does feel a bit like an outside track that's just been Peripherized. Spencer's ethereal high melody at the song's explosive ending is a nice touch, but I still wouldn't say it alone justifies the song's inclusion.

The album finishes with the angelic and euphorically anthemic "Satellites", which is a bit of a new prog, melodic metalcore power ballad that ascends from atmospheric clean guitar echoes and soft singing into a crescendo of emotive, ambiance-supplemented djent with some of Spencer's most impassioned and impressive high singing atop it, and it makes for a fittingly grand and well-executed conclusion to a similarly massive and ambitious album.

Even where the band so stumble on Hail Stan, they are so tuned in to what they do well when they revert to their evolved form that they more than make up for it. And that's not to say all their musical ventures flop, they do pull off quite a few surprising hits on songs that don't fall within their usual modes of operation. And when they're on their tried-and-true shit the band don't slip up much, showing their focus and full capabilities with their style. It's still not quite up to the level of long-toiled mastery that Juggernaut was, but I definitely want to heap more praise than criticism on this album because so many bands have tried (or half-assed) the kind of reconciling of dense production, orchestration with an older, heavier sound and it usually falls flat on its face, while Periphery have managed to to stay themselves and still channel the best version of themselves even through less familiar means. Unlike the many bands who neuter, malform, or erase their signature essence through forays into bombastic projects like this, Periphery's most vibrant form shined through and kept the background from taking over the album, which is certainly a much more accomplished follow-up to their masterpiece than their previous album was.

Juggernaut: Beta/10

[actualbird]

Hi Bird, im really sorry if this is like, really invasive/personal, but i saw you mention you have an ed? i'm trying to figure out how to ask this as tactfully as possible (idk how comfy you are w/ talking abt it) but im starting to think i MIGHT have one as well and im not really sure like. what to do abt it. Did you ever get help for yours? or do you kinda just... live(???) with it? please ignore this if i'm being too forward! i hate thinking abt mine so i feel bad asking other ppl abt theirs.

dont feel bad!! it’s fine. and well 

okay i’ll level with you here, im the worst person to ask about this because My ED and I (sounds like a fun sitcom if i phrase it like that bjdfdks) have been going at it on and off for basically 6 years. and i never got help for it. first year i kinda just rolled over and let it walk all over me. after that i tried to stop but it’s hard to just stop, so i go a few months okay before falling back in. had a real good year of being okay before falling back in last summer. i dont know how to get better because frankly i havent actually tried yet. 

so like this is like asking a dead body how not to get murdered fdfskjdfhkdsjfdf but like. listen. if you think you might have one, im really proud of you already. the self awareness it takes to admit it is something really brave. i never called what i had an ed until the 4 year mark, so im glad you know. even if youre not sure, it’s better to be careful when youre dealing with an ed. it destroys your body and your mind yo. best to yknow. not let that happen

im no professional but it helps to familiarize yourself with the types of eds and seeing if youre exhibiting the symptoms (one reason i didnt call what i had an ed for the longest time was cuz i didnt fit either anorexia or bulimia, but theres more). not to sound like google, but this site looks pretty alright with what ive skimmed, so maybe check it out. and if you think things are looking pretty uncannily familiar, ask for help

im Big Dumb Hypocrite for suggesting something i havent even done, but really. ask for help. the most ideal is to go see a doctor, but i get that thats daunting, so tell a friend. somebody you trust. but work your way up to seeing a medical professional. eds can fuck up your physical health bigtime really fucking quickly. the longer it stays, the worse it gets. get help. 

as for the “living” bit, thats really dependent on what kind of ed youre dealing with. what ive got basically happened cuz i associated food as something i had to work to “deserve” and i never really “did”. i started using the ed to manage my anxiety and vice versa but “managing” turned into “holding hands while beating me up”. MY POINT IS my whole routine for “living” is trying to break that stupid core belief. eating is eating, i dont have to reach a quota of productivity to fucking eat. thought exercises! treating myself even when ive done nothing of note! these seem shallow as fuck, but little things help chip away at it. i mean, it’s not curing me because uh, six years, but. im trying. and im evidently still alive so one step in the right direction? BIG SHRUG

though regardless of whatever youre going through, i do wanna tell you that your head is making a lot of untrue assumptions about food and eating and image and stuff. whatever youre head is telling you, it’s wrong. theres a screamy little goblin living in your brain making a lot of noise but its wrong. this is a weird metaphor to end with, but im pretty sure of it yknow. eds are terrible and im sorry you might have one, but it’s lying to you. 

i hope things get better anon!!

[josephmyplace]

EVALUATION

INTRO

work, my thought process, I think of the concept, and how I can abstract that into an interesting certain direction, I may choose to interpret belonging as an object, a relevant theme, or perhaps as a place, or a feeling, then covey that in a visually interesting way.

Initially I found it difficult to come up with an idea for something like belonging, as without any context the possible interpretations are endless, however I found that as I became more familiar with the course I felt more comfortable to create more freely, and while this is a careless approach, it's more productive than not doing anything over the idea that you might create something bad, as even then I can create multiple artworks and select the best.

I feel that this this art course has had a subtle influence on me, not in how I make art but rather it has informed me about art, I feel more educated about artists and because of that I now recognize more as art, and have a greater appreciation for it.

Particularly expressionist artists, such as Anselm Keifer, who uses materials that are relevant to the artwork, such as “margarette” which used hay in the painting to depict the Nazis, and in another of his works the “hierarchy of the angels”, here he uses t-shirts to depict the dead additionally inclusion of unorthodox materials adds an interesting physical dimension to the piece.

minimalist and conceptual work of Richard long, he often extends the art beyond what it depicts, his famous piece “a line made by walking” incorporates time into it, as the piece is his continuous back and forth over time, I find this especially interesting since his pieces are often vacant, minimalist, they rely a lot more off that isn't apparent; the intangible thoughts behind them.

EXPLANATION OF PRINTING TECHNIQUES

drypiont: a needle like instrument carves a design into a material, ink then fills the groves and stains the paper when pressed in printing.

Intaglio: conceptually identical to drypoint, where a design is carved into a material, except carving knives are used here, to create larger, 'blocky' designs.

Screenprint: a design is put onto a screen where there holes in the screen that are identical to the original art, so that when printed the screen produces a replica of the original.

Lino: a piece of lino is carved into, and ink is rolled unto it, causing the uncarved sections to appear as the black, and the uncarved sections not to come up.

throughout the course I learnt how to print, specifically lino, screenprint, intaglio, drypiont was studied in the course,  I found lino and drypiont to produce the best prints, though I found the lino to be imprecise in places ( this is a result of me not having precision lino cutters), it still produced prints of quality consistently, as for drypiont, it produced very detailed prints, however the process is arduous and painful if you kept doing it long enough, as the pressure needed to carve eventually hurts your fingers.

As for intaglio and screenprints, lino was not difficult to work with but suffered with finer, small details, as the cutting could cause pieces to separate that I didn't want to, limiting it's usefulness, the prints are okay, inconsistent with problems with the printed paper occasionally tearing onto the intaglio, another issue is how the prints damage throughout the process.

Example of inked Drypoint

Example of a printed intaglio

Screenprints, the biggest issue for screenprinting was that my original design had its original fine detail lost, and the process to re-prepare the board for another print was time consuming, additionally it needed to be dry, so we used hair-dryers which caused my print to tear slightly as the heat will burn a hole in it if not monitored.

EXPLANATION OF DRAWING TECHNIQUES

blind:The viewer does not look at what they have drawn but instead observes their subject as they draw.

continuous line:A single unbroken line used to draw the subject.

layered blind with blue tac reference: the viewer does not look at their subject, or paper but uses touch to interpret the subject, blue tac is attached to the subject and paper so that the artist has reference points.

Ambidextrous:Both of the artist's hands draw the subject.

Observational:To draw the subject as accurately to reality as possible.

Derek's lessons focus on drawing, specifically on abstraction by the merger of forms to create something new, he emphases that out of chaos something new is made that otherwise would not have,  such as taking photos and objects then abstracting the forms and shapes until something is made that is interesting or invokes an emotion.

He also taught the use of graphite, a dark material suited for shading, creating pitch black areas, and creating shading by using fingers to draw the graphite across the artwork.

additionally he taught  painting with both chalk and ink, the brush was used to draw the chalk across the art, the red ink added a strong visual to the piece.

he did a lesson where fine-liners were used, which was familiar as I use them in my personal art frequently, this lesson like his others included the combining of the forms of multiple objects, as well as a brief look into how Photoshop works.

THE FINAL OUTCOME BOARD  

My final outcome mixed media board is rough, I worked mainly with paints which are hard to control, it needs to be neatened and also there to be better shading of the fabric on the plague doctors, as well as better colour transitions.

However I'm happy with the concept of the board and the general design, I tried to create something that I feel is dark, twisting, ominous, doctor, disease, expressionist, red, smoky,  procession, theological.

The board was inspired by the global pandemic, the plague doctors being a reference to our modern plague, I went with a medieval theme because they have a strong design to them, their masks preventing you from seeing their humanity, and hooked beaks like ravens that feed on corpses, also because contrasting our modern eras virus struggle with theirs was interesting.

In their hands is incense, lavender, hinted at by the blue smoke, along with the procession hints a religious theme, these doctors are a procession of martyrs, their zealously will kill them one after the other, as people in this time act with the same zealous ignorance towards a virus that will kill them.

Initially the board started out as a group of sketches, from those the plague doctor was chosen

from there the design was put onto tracing paper, then using carbon paper was put onto Lino, afterwards it was carved into

then using an ink roller a fine amount of ink was applied to create the most accurate print .. image, the the image was printed onto the board via printing press

[neo-losangeles]

here is my review for charli xcx’s number 1 angel. (which i am pitching for the school news paper, as a writing sample, so i can write music/tv for them.)

 AGH IM SO EXCITED AND IM HAPPY THAT I FEEL GOOD ABOUT THIS REVIEW. its like 700 words so that is pretty short and concise  highlighting the strengths and weakness of a record that i think is really cool. anyways, wish me luck. I'm pitching this to a nb-poc frat bro who writes about future x__x 

Standing alone in red with a white rose we find a confident Charli XCX fully invested in her neon-nihilism of her latest effort, ‘Number 1 Angel.’ In the porous space of mixtape and album rendered by her record labels indecisiveness. XCX’s cathartic relief of releasing new music finds her own lane in between pop’s mainstream and it’s avant garde. However, XCX’s talent has yet to be warranted by a higher level of success. It has had its ebbs and flows reaching highs in 2012’s featured ‘I Love It!’ with Icona Pop, positioning her as a writer who can write a song of the summer. In 2014 reaching a double-hit of the assisted Iggy Azalea ‘Fancy’ and her own glittery song ‘ Boom Clap.’ Her latest effort ‘Number 1 Angel’ defiant like her pose on the album cover exudes a non-chalantness of ever reaching Rihanna-esque heights and is much more comfortable in her own reckless self-possession and agency reflected in the music’s neon-nihilism.

‘Roll With Me,’ a standout, is a fluttering track highlighting XCX’s sweetness in her voice only to be juxtapositioned to Sophie’s hyper-feminine tinker toybots ‘Yeah-yea’ chants against a demented drumdrops. Number 1 Angel is situated at the club, specifically at after-hours like in song ‘3 Am’ featuring Mo. The pseudo tropical-house record on obsessing over a hook-up only to be victorious and break the masochistic habit.

Travis Scott’s ‘Goosebumps’ is a song of reference for the record’s interests in moody goth-trap music.  ‘Blame It On You’’s rap-sung verses example pop’s pop’s recentering of hip-hop influences sonically and vocally even if it’s embellished by PC-music’s manic pixie vocals. The two can meet and still exude a coolness like in opening  track, ‘Dreamer’ featuring Starrah, responsible for Rihanna’s ‘Needed Me,’ and Raye offer two verses that match up to XCX’s confidence that make for an ambitious girl group between them.

Finally, arriving to ‘Babygirl,’ gifts the listener a break from the heavy-club smoke for a lighter sunnier song featuring British ‘throw-back’ rapper Uffie. ‘Babygirl’ full of 80’s sunny synth showcasing XCX’s talents of writing a catchy hook; however, is eclipsed by Uffie’s superfun performance, “Gloss on my lips, pop/Sun in my eyes/Goes the other liquor from inside.” The problematics of having too many features even if XCX feels a sense of camaraderie with her peers for having making it thus far, allowing them a shine, often eclipses one of pop music’s most exciting ladies.

‘Babygirl,’ nonetheless, showcases XCX’s vulnerability in her performance and in her voice. A principle factor of why a cheesy record like 2014’s Boom Clap resonated with many becoming a hit. Number 1 Angel’s version of ‘Boom Clap’ is ‘Emotional,’ a record on the teetering lines of guilt and pleasure of having enough self-control to not cheat. The lyrics, themselves, read outloud are shallow yet it is in her vocal delivery where the listener can feel the longing for wanting someone you can’t have. ‘ILY2’ like ‘Emotional’ propose this silly lyric dilemma which can only be answered through XCX’s sincere vulnerability of the refusal of being vulnerable and tender. She sings, “I don’t talk a lot/So you should listen up, I mean it when I say/I’m not afraid, it’s okay/You know I love you too,” alongside Danny L Harle’s cutesy synths. The last half of the record is spent back in the club only to find the drugs are wearing off and it’s almost

5 am like mid-tempo ‘Drugs,’ featuring Atlanta singer Abra. A record that is most fun at the end where it’s hypnotic-psychedelic drop capturing the shameful yet familiar ecstasy of messing around with an ex you just can’t let go.  

XCX found a great balance of working with pop producers and the PC music collective eliminating the worst parts of them:2-D femininity avatars and uncool chaos that ends up sounding like noise. XCX brings her song writer pen that keep up, animate, and sometimes override the over-production like in ‘Lipgloss’ featuring Chicago rapper Cupcakke. Here, again, XCX’s voice is flattened into a hyper-feminine robot; yet, her self-possessed confidence exudes overriding Sophie’s parody ironic hyper-pink synths. Cupcakke’s filthy verses are hilariously boisterous shouting out iCarly and being above it like an ovary.

Closing the record with a convincing argument of not having the mainstream bend to her will rather than her bending too theirs. An effort that has not been electronically exciting since, perhaps, Britney Spears Blackout. Number 1 Angel is a hell of a ride asking its listeners to come to a party steering far way of Ed Sheeran's formulaic pop of ‘putting that body on him;’ but rather into a more femme and darker after-hours of pop music.