#apology post for bad arts next /j

[vwiivizx]

Day 6 evening!!!! :3

I don't have time to color both of them and find hanakos colors

this was very rushed btw I have a lot of other art stuff to finish

RAHHH

Would've been smart if I used this official art color pallete but I found this after drawing and I have no time to redo this so

I'M SORRY THIS LOOKS BAD BUT I RUSHED THIS ALR

[cassiaallen]

I have had this in my notes forever, and since I’m not sure if I’ll ever turn this into a fanfic, I thought I’d post it here.

A lot of this is my own version of canon, but it’s also partly inspired by wonderful accounts such as @halfblood-princes-crown, @moonlightdancer26 and more.

Hope you enjoy!

Severus Snape’s Death Eater Journey

-Eileen married Tobias because she was the eldest of her siblings and thus the "heir" and hated it

-she was in Gryffindor (hat stall, almost in Slytherin)

-Tobias was a misogynistic wife-beater and child abuser

-he hated magic

-he didn’t like feeling his wife was superior to him

-he beat his wife to "get the magic out of her" and when that didn’t work, he did the same to his son

-Severus started to resent T when he was about 5

-his first bit of magic showed during a time when he was defending himself against his father

-he started thinking "are all muggles this bad?", but slightly changed that view whenever he spoke to his muggle neighbours and the Evans family

-Sev is excited to go to Hogwarts as he thinks he can finally escape his family’s tormenting

-he latches onto Lily as she’s A) magical (and thus, an "outsider" like him) and B) a complete contrast to everything he had ever known

-encounter in the train 01.09.1971

-at first, he brushes it off

-Lily being Sorted into Gryffindor upsets him mainly because it reminds him of his miserable home life (Gryffindor as a symbol of badness)

-first week of school, J&S play a prank on Sev

-they find his reaction funny, play some more pranks on him during the next few months and decide to make him their main target

-part of J&S detentions are the result of Sev telling prefect Lucius (this in turn contributes to their hatred of Sev and Slytherin)

-the pranks are physically harmless at first, "just" humiliating

-Sev throws himself into his studies, becoming a very skilled wizard

-in year 2/3, the "pranks" become more and more physically violent

-in year 4, Sev accidentally hexes an OC as he believes them to be one of the marauders (he just saw someone coming in his direction from the corner of his eye)

-he apologises and takes the OC to the hospital wing

-the only people that somewhat listen to him when it comes to the M are Slytherins

-he is not close to any of them though

-he starts hanging out with Avery and Mulciber

-he’s happy to be somewhat included, so he doesn’t openly criticise their anti-muggleborn views

-despite his friendship with Lily, Sev associates the Light™️ with his oppressors

-he begins to learn more about the Dark Arts to fight back (he focuses on the opposite of what his bullies stand for)

-he hears slurs in his common room all the time and often they refer to his bullies (which is largely why he calls Lily that)

-he never says the slur out loud, only in his head/under his breath

-one time Sev and Mulciber bitch about the Gryffindors/his bullies in particular and Sev calls Remus + Peter the slur under his breath (he wants to get back at them for all the pain they’ve caused him by supporting J&S)

-Sev says he dislikes an OC as much as the M, which leads to people believing he calls everyone of Lily’s birth the slur

-January 1976 Werewolf Incident

-February 1976 Mulciber tries doing something to Mary MacDonald ("They don’t use Dark Magic though.")

-Sev's anger and bitterness increases as Dumbledore forces him to keep quiet about the WI

-May/June 1976 Lake Incident (+ failed apology)

-Sev comes home that summer to find out his father had (accidentally) killed his mother ("She fell down the stairs.")

-the summer holidays are awful as A) Sev misses his mum and B) his father now takes all his anger out on him

-he spends as much time outside as possible

-he spends some time on the playground where he first saw Lily

-he writes her a letter, delivers it personally, and Lily’s parents promise to give it to her (she never responds)

-year 6 is the worst bullying ever, as J&S A) realise Sev no longer has Lily’s support and B) Sirius’s disowning fuelled their anger at Slytherins

-Lily pointedly ignores him

-Sev's only safe haven is the Dark Arts, but he is also hesitant as this is what drove Lily (=the Light) away

-due to the increased bullying that year, Sev ends up in the hospital wing every other week

-summer 1977 is when he starts getting caught in the loop of "I want power to protect myself from my pain (J&S, Gryffindor, everything they represent)" and "but I don’t want to commit evil acts (Cruciatus Curse etc)"

-through spies at Hogwarts (Lucius?) Voldemort finds out about a skilled and vulnerable Sev and starts preying on him

-he is on the fence, but when he finds out Lily is dating James (his tormentor) in 1978, that tips him over the edge

-his motivation for joining the DE is revenge for the pain the light side caused him (the M bullying, Dumbledore covering it all up, Lily "betraying" him by joining his tormentors), gaining power to protect himself against future attacks, and to protect Lily from "their clutches"

-he comes home that summer to find out his father died in a car accident (he was driving while drunk), so he owns the Spinner’s End house

-he receives the Dark Mark a few months after graduation September 1978

-Voldemort instructs Sev to use his home to make potions for the DE

-he occasionally takes part in battles, but during his first year, his main job is brewing potions

-while spending so much time at home, he goes through his old belongings and discovers things from his friendship with Lily

-guilt starts to manifest, but the DE are the first people who value him and his skills and don’t make fun of him, so he ignores their pure-blood ideology even though he doesn’t believe in it himself

-in 1979/1980 Voldemort starts using Sev as a spy as he recognises his talent for it during previous battles

-15.05.1980 the Prophecy

-August 1980 Voldemort decides to go after the Potters and guilt hits Sev in the face so hard he can barely breathe

-"well, I don’t care about Potter, but I can’t leave Lily dead or unhappy"

-asking Voldemort to spare her (had he asked for the whole family, it would have been suspicious)

-asking Dumbledore to spare all ("Anything.")

-starts teaching at Hogwarts (V believes it is to spy on D but it’s actually the opposite)

-Halloween 1981

-guilt and grief times ♾

-"Always."

[boy-armageddon]

haiii hewwoooo sorry this'll prolly be a little rambly but! i will talk about my valorant oc corrode who i have. actually not posted anything about before! apologies about that pfft. uhhh okay here we go and shit!

(sidenote: im relatively new to the valorant fandom and i haven't developed corrode the most sorry about that i just wanna talk about them still)

okay so! corrode, real name rez whitfield (almost named them redfield but that might be a little on the nose for me making them a resident evil fan y'know) yeah yeah. they're from new zealand and like 28-29 that age range. anywhooooo let's get to the uh meat of it yeah yeah!

they are a radiant (well it's. complicated ill get into that some other time i haven't developed that part too much but it involves the kingdom experiment stuff y'know how it js) with the ability to produce acid and shit, which. okay to admit i generally haven't thought about gameplay mechanics for corrode as, while i have looked into quite a bit, it's hard for me to actually think it y'know. ive only thought of like a few things and they're just vague out-line-y stuff my apologies. id guess they'd prolly have like an ability that would like idk put acid on the floor and apply the decay effect (no duh (/lh) and prolly limit where other players could move but that's like around it im not all that familiar with the game-game like how that would be to play my apologies. anywho ill just get to talking about corrode's personality etc etc maybe a backstory element thingy.

so, for what i generally imagine for corrode as a character, they're generally. ill get it out of the way they're joker-like (/lh). but yeah corrode is a very weird person and a bit scary and they're quite bad with interacting with others. not mean but they'd sort of creep other people out. they're very loose with their emotions and can loose their cool very easily, along with having not the best control over their powers, which conflicts a lot with the fact that they generally try to follow any orders they're given to a t and shit. this is all more general stuff though not anything final y'know. an odd detail i immediately thought of ive mentioned was that they're a huge resident evil fan because haha the biohazard stuff and like corrode. acid. ba dum tss. also idk how to fit this in but they're an orphan and were a bit isolated in general for a good bit. SAD!

anywhooooo. art of corrode i have woo

rough sketch of corrode and shit

rough doodle of corrode's outfit i did (which. had an amongus head i cropped)

live corrode reaction. need i say more?

i have an actual coloured im drawing of corrode featuring their face but i think it suuuuucks. so im not showing it rn until i make something better

anywhoooo that's all i feel like talking about for corrode for now! ill prolly mention some other stuff later but yeah. corrode is stillllll a work in progress mf so none of this in final. corrode could be a turtle for all i know next time (/j). but yeah that's all lmao toodles

[burntetwell]

As it is The 31st of October and Halloween j have decided to share some of the most spooky and not uhh mildly threatening artwork.

-note following artwork is not actually that threatening hopefully

So yeah this is mostly a massive dump of Halloween themed art that I made this month I hope you enjoy!

Drawing of a witch: A year ago vs now

So I took art up properly about a year ago as an amature and over the course of a year I'd like to think I've gotten at least somewhat better but I'll leave that up to you to decide.

Character designs/interpretations for the characters Laura(on the left) and carmilla(on the right) from the Novela Carmilla

So yeah, I started reading this novel sometime earlier this month and my god was it fun! I love the whole mystery aspect to it with the characters feeling really layered with me personally having lots of theories about what's to happen next. Although I doubt I'll finish it during October sadly as I have tbh been a bit overwhelmed with college work and lost track of time. Also, castlevania- I watched wayyy to much castlevania. Btw apologies I hope its not but like I'm assuming as this novella came out like what over 100 years ago It probably has some form of problematic element to it although of course I haven't finished it yet so don't take me posting art of it as a condoning of such things if they are present. But if it's somehow unproblematic colour me surprised and very happy. Again, I need to finish it.

Here's a concept for my interpretation of Frankesteins monster

So yeah, I originally had to study this novel for college, but yeah, I actually really enjoyed this novel as like whimsical twink commits crimes against god. What more could I ask for. I mean yes he is amoral af and I feel bad for the monster but like I'm happy yet surprised Victor isn't on sexypeida and the monster is. Like fuck yeah good for you Frankensteins monster™.

Random vampire oc I choose you!

So yeah I ended up making a vampire oc! Is because of my hyperfixarion of castlevania? Yes there will be no more questions vampires are just plain out cool dammit. Also name is currently a work in progress so sorry if it happens to be the same name as another character or some irl person who's problematic or something.

But yeah that wraps it up I hope you enjoyed!

[danganronpadespairtime]

Bonus Episodes + Other Questions

Briefly, I will open up the askbox again, because I think there may be some questions.

You can send in questions here. A Tumblr account is not needed to ask questions.

There may be chapter 1 spoilers.

Anonymous asked:

Can we get color palettes for the characters? It's hard to get the right colors from the sprites since there are so many gradients, and not every character has a CG. Sorry to inconvenience you.

I color pick from sprites, because when the gradient is removed it may make certain colors look lighter... But if that isn’t a concern for you, then I will provide flats.

Anonymous asked:

What each of the cast member’s clothing preferences? I want to do fan art of them in casual clothing, so I’m pretty curious! 

Sorry, I have a bad fashion sense and it may limit my responses, but I’ll try to answer to the best of my ability

Eden: She enjoys cute fashion, but she also enjoys wearing androgynous style clothes.

J: Refuses to wear feminine things. Likes dark colors and hoodies.

Teruko: Her fashion sense diverges from what she’d actually wear. Secretly she wants to wear girly, cute things, but is unable to afford that kind of thing. She likes skirts.

Nico: Like Teruko, wants to wear girly things but doesn’t due to external factors

Hu: Wears modernized casual hanfu. She also likes long skirts

Veronika: Complicated, lolita-like fashion

Min: She cares more about practicality than looks. She wears comfortable clothing

Levi: Fashionable

Arturo: Something that appears expensive... Designer clothes, faux high fashion

Whit: A similar style to the clothes that he is current wearing

Arei: Cute,Girly

Ace: Sporty

Charles: Semi-formal, but he doesn’t care too much about appearance

David: Semi-formal. ‘professional’ and stylish look

Rose: Eccentric and colorful, and not delicate

Anonymous asked:

This question doesn’t relate to the episodes, but rather the comic: would you say that the comic is also canonic and prior to the events of drdt? 

No, it was just a joke.

Anonymous asked: 

Was the Ultimate contest for eminent students part of the Korean Hope’s Peak, and then Min later came to america?

Currently there is no confirmation that Korea has built a Hope’s Peak. I think there may be some assumption that because someone has a foreign name, they can’t be american nor have grown up in america. This isn’t really true.

Stated explicitly, every member of the cast is American, and has spent a significant portion of their childhood growing up in the US.

That being said, Min has always been serviced by america’s Hope’s Peak. Whenever DRDT references Hope’s Peak, it will almost always be in reference to the American ones.

Anonymous asked:

Why Xander has both eyes? What happend to his eyepatch?

Xander presumably received his eye injury shortly before the start of the the events of DRDT, so it’s not like he had it for most of his life.

Anonymous asked:

sorry im so confused... is chariton like, a country that xander is from or something?

Chariton is a fictional town in an unspecified state in the US. North C is a city that is north of Chariton, in the same state. Both receive water from Chariton River (also fictional) that flows from north to south. 

There is a real town and a real river named Chariton but that is an unintended coincidence.

Anonymous asked: 

Is there gonna be more Bonus episodes? 

That is all there is for now. More bonus episodes may come after chapter 2.

Anonymous asked: 

Is there a fully body for Xander's casual outfit in the bonus episode? I think it looks really awesome!

Anonymous asked:

Do you have a rough estimation of the next chapter release? It’s ok if you don’t!

No to both, sorry. Regarding the second thing I am so early on in the production process that I cannot even begin to fathom a release date.

Anonymous asked:

Are both "unnamed students" the same person given that they have the same voice actor? Or is it just a coincidence? Also, why is Nico called "Nico Kasabyan" in the prologue? Was that his original name?

1. Same person

2. That was a mistake

Anonymous asked:

Not exactly an important question, but did Ace’s hair turn more dull?

Yes. He is getting a little sloppy with his hair dye maintenance, and/or he stopped caring.

Anonymous asked:

What year does this take place?

I don’t want to be too specific with dates nor places lest I accidentally invoke some real-life associations. DRDT takes place 70-80 years after the events of Danganronpa, somewhere in the US. That’s about specific as it gets.

Although you’d expect things to be very different after almost a century, much of that time was devoted to rebuilding post-Tragedy, so it is about analogous to our present day.

Anonymous asked:

Will Duke Spurling be mentioned in the main story at all? The story in the side episodes intrigue me a lot, and it makes me wonder if they’ll ever cross over.

I should clarify that the bonus episodes being “not plot important” doesn’t mean that none of the content will show up in the main story, just that if any events in them are plot important, then they will be also discussed as necessary within the story themself. That is to say, you can skip them and still understand the main story.

I do realize now this may be misleading wording on my part, so I apologize. That being said, some of the people and events mentioned, particularly in the second episode, may come up in the story... sometime in the distant future... Please remain patient!

koivoid asked:

How many students were in East Class 27? 

16 students, with (including) one randomly selected Ultimate Lucky Student. This is standard for all Hope’s Peak classes, with very few exceptions. In addition the classes are always “evenly split by gender” (in theory).

Anonymous asked:

are Nico's eye fades red or gray? Cause I noticed some inconsistencies between the videos and cast page. I'm not sure if it's intentional or the cast page is old and needs to be updated.

I changed them to gray after seeing that too many characters already had red eyelashes, but I haven’t updated the cast page. If there are any discrepancies within the cast pages or photos, they’re usually insignificant.

[flclarchives]

Amusing Himself to Death, an Akadot.com interview with Kazuya Tsurumaki (director of FLCL and assistant director of Evangelion) from around December 2001. In the article, Tsurumaki explains a few things about Evangelion, his mentality behind FLCL as a whole, and the meaning of the name ‘FLCL’.

Full article text is under the cut, or read the article in its original form [here].

Kazuya Tsurumaki was a relatively little-known animator when Hideki Anno selected him to work as the assistant director on Neon Genesis Evangelion. For the TV series, which became a smash hit in Japan and one of the touchstones of the current surge of interest in anime in the US, Tsuramaki served as the main storyboard artist as well as assistant director, and when Studio Gainax began production on a trio of Evangelion films Tsurumaki got his first directorial assignment.

As he tells the story, Anno came to him after Eva and announced that he was out of ideas and that it was up to Tsurumaki to dream up the next project because, "you are next." Tsurumaki let his imagination run wild, but by the time he had written a script, Anno - despite his declaration that he had no stories left to tell - was already several steps ahead of Tsurumaki and in pre-production for his next series, Kareshi Kanojo no Jijo, leaving Tsurumaki a chance to have complete and unsupervised creative control of his own series FLCL.

FLCL, referred to as "Fooly Cooly" (or "Furikuri" by its American fans), is unlike any anime series to come before it. Wild, maniacally fast-paced physical comedy; exaggerated, exuberant animation alternately pushing towards surrealist- as when mecha exuviate from a bump on young Naota's head - and deconstructionist - as when the animation literally stops and the story is told by a camera bouncing across a page of black and white manga art panels; and obsessively, often irrelevantly, referential to obscure Tokyo-pop bands and anime insider trivia; FLCL was hyperkinetic and disorienting, yet mesmerizing, almost transgressive, and undeniably original. It inspired enthusiastic admiration for Tsurumaki as a creator, even amongst the perhaps 90% of the series' fans who were absolutely baffled by much of it. One is tempted to refer to it as announcing the arrival of full blown post-modernism in animation, or perhaps as the Exploding Plastic Inevitable of the anime industry.

When Tsurumaki visited Baltimore to speak to American fans at the recent Otokon Convention, predictably, many of the questions were along the lines of, "Hi, I really loved FLCL [or Evangelion], but could you please explain this part of it to me?"

Tsurumaki answered all questions genially with a self-deprecating and often mischievous sense of humor. For example:

Why does Haruko hit Naota over the head with her guitar?

Kazuya Tsurumaki: Naota is trying to be a normal adult and she belts him to make him rethink his decision.

Why does Evangelion end violently, and somewhat unhappily?

KT: People are accustomed to sweet, contrived, happy endings. We wanted to broaden the genre, and show people an ugly, unhappy ending.

Why is the character of Shinji portrayed as he is?

KT: Shinji was modeled on director Hideki Anno. Shinji was summoned by his father to ride a robot, Anno was summoned by Gainax to direct an animation. Working on Nadia [Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water, one of Anno and Tsurumaki's earlier projects] he wondered if he still wanted to work like this. He thought that working on Eva could help him to change.

Is there any particular reason why so many Gainax series feature very anxious, unhappy young male protagonists with no parents?

KT: Yes, the directors at Gainax are all basically weak, insecure, bitter, young men. So are many anime fans. Many Japanese families, including my own, have workaholic fathers whose kids never get to see them. That may influence the shows I create.

Could you explain the mecha bursting from Naota's head in FLCL?

KT: I use a giant robot being created from the brain to represent FLCL coming from my brain. The robot ravages the town around him, and the more intensely I worked on FLCL the more I destroyed the peaceful atmosphere of Gainax.

Why doesn't FLCL follow one story?

KT: In the third episode Ninamori was almost a main character, a kid who, like Naota, has to act like an adult.  After episode three her problem was solved so we wrote her out.  She has many fans in Japan and we got plenty of letters about that decision.  For FLCL I wanted to portray the entire history of Gainax, and each episode has symbols of what happened behind the scenes on each of Gainax's shows.   Episode one has many elements of Karekano; episode two, a lot of Evangelion references, etc.

Where does the title FLCL come from?

KT: I got the idea from a CD in a music magazine with the title Fooly-Cooly.  I like the idea of titles that are shortened long English words. Pokémon for "Pocket-Monsters" for instance, and an old J-pop band called Brilliant Green that was known as "Brilly-Grilly."

Is there any reason why the extra scenes added to Eva for the video release were cut in the first place?  Did you think the story would mean something different with them intact?

KT: The scenes that were added to Eva for its video release aren't that important.  We added them as an apology for taking so long to get the video out.  Maybe they'll help people understand things, because the episodes were done under tough deadlines the first time around.

Can you explain the symbolism of the cross in Evangelion?

KT: There are a lot of giant robot shows in Japan, and we did want our story to have a religious theme to help distinguish us.   Because Christianity is an uncommon religion in Japan we thought it would be mysterious.  None of the staff who worked on Eva are Christians.  There is no actual Christian meaning to the show, we just thought the visual symbols of Christianity look cool.  If we had known the show would get distributed in the US and Europe we might have rethought that choice.

After the panel, Mr. Tsurumaki sat down to speak with Akadot.

Do you enjoy confusing people?

KT: I have a twisted sense of humor.  I'm an Omanu Jacku, a contrarian.  [Writer's note- Omanu Jacku is a folk character a bit like Puck, a mischief maker]

What do you see differently now that you're working as a director rather than only as a visual artist?

KT: As an animator I have only the art; as a director story is really big.  I still feel as an animator and I often have trouble putting the needs of the story first.

Did you intend from the start for FLCL to be as bizarre as it wound up?

KT: From the very start I wanted a different flavor.  To achieve this I had to re-train the animators to be as stylized as I wanted them to be because I wasn't drawing it.  I knew that not everyone would get it.  I deliberately selected very obscure J-pop culture and anime sub-culture jokes and references.  Because Eva was so somber I always intended to make FLCL outrageous and wacky.

Why the choice to break out of conventional animation and use manga pages? Was it at all a response to how many anime are using computers to achieve smoother and more realistic visuals?  Were you trying to go the opposite direction?

KT: I like manga, not only to read, but the visuals.  The pen drawings, the frame breakdowns and layouts . . . This is the first time I have used digital animation, and those bouncing manga shots wouldn't have been possible with cel animation.   Personally I'm not interested at all in using computers for realistic animation.  I'm impressed by it sometimes, but I'm interested in using computers to do what was once impossible, not to do smoother versions of what has already been done.  I want to be less realistic.

Has using digital animation techniques changed the way you work, or the way you feel about your work when you see it?  Does it still feel like it's yours if a computer did much of it?

KT: Before I got into digital animation I saw other shows that were using it and I felt that there was no feeling, it was empty.   As an animator, there's a sense of release when you draw a cel.  There's something there.  Working on FLCL, though, I learned that computers can do more, and, most of all, that they allow room for trial and error and revising, more freedom to experiment.  That is why I now feel that cel art cannot win against computers.  For actual animation everything is still drawn on paper.  That work hasn't changed.  It's the other stuff, the touchups, and coloring.  If we didn't use paper, maybe the feeling would change.

Earlier today you said that you were trying to broaden the genre by giving Eva a sad ending.  Does the sameness of much of today's anime bore you?

KT: First of all we didn't use a sad ending to annoy fans.  When they're upset, that really bothers us.  Personally, I think a happy ending is fine, but not if it is achieved too easily.  That's no good.

For all the fans that are confused at all, if you had to define in one sentence what FLCL is about, what would you say?

KT: FLCL is the story of boy meets girl.  For me it is also about how it's ok to feel stupid.  With Evangelion there was this feeling that you had better be smart to understand it, or even just to work on it. With FLCL I want to say that it's okay to feel stupid.

Even though it may be strange to us, do you have in your head a logic behind it?  Are you trying to portray a story that follows the logic of dreams, or is it supposed to make sense symbolically?

KT: I'd like you to think of FLCL as imagination being made physical and tangible, just as it is for me when I take whatever is in my head and draw it.

So what are you working on next?

KT: Right now Gainax has told me that they'll support anything I choose to create, but I'm having trouble coming up with any ideas.

Why is that?

KT: Releasing titles for market, I know I have to make something to please fans, but I'm not a mature enough person to accept that fact.  If I'm not amusing myself I can't do it.  I feel bad that fans have to put up with such behavior from me.  I apologize. 

[mako-yaki]

hi! i saw your requests were open so can i please request a oneshot for sakusa with a crush on the reader who is his childhood best friend?? and like the reader is very sarcastic towards him and is very into art so when she starts to get more successful sakusa gets jealous and gets scared that she might leave him??

⁕ Since Forever ⁕

« Sakusa Kiyoomi x Reader »

In which Sakusa can only hide his feelings for so long.

Word count: 1454

Hi anon! My first post ahh. I hope you like it and I hope this meets your expectations. I feel like it’s all over the place and I don’t think I nailed the reader being sarcastic part, my apologies. ): I’m working on how to improve writing that. Other than that, I hope this is alright. Thanks for requesting! Sorry for taking so long too.

Sakusa Kiyoomi has kept one secret to himself for years, but as time passes, the secret is forcing itself out of him, and slowly, he doesn’t even try to stop it anymore.

When you showed him your phone with an opened email, he felt his heart sink once again; how many times has this happened? He doesn’t even want to count it anymore. It was an offer from one of the best Art schools in the world, and to add on to that, the said school is the one that you’ve been dreaming of going since you were five. He had always known about how talented you are when it comes to art, but with the thought of being separated from you for four whole years, especially with your dream school being on the other side of the world, he could practically feel his heart shatter.

“Omi!” When you approached him, he had to tell himself to calm the hell down. “Yes, (Y/N)?” Get your act together, Sakusa Kiyoomi. When you reached him, you gave him a brief hug and grabbed onto his wrist, pulling him to the closest bench at the park you were at. His eyes were on you the whole time, admiring your signature angelic smile, while you started to speak about your passion, Art. He could never get tired of hearing you talk about Art, which is something that you love deeply.

“Oh, and I’m declining the offer.”

His entire being froze. What did you just say?

“I know what’s on your mind, Mr. Clean. But in case you haven’t absorbed what I just told you, I’m declining the offer. To answer your questions that you don’t have to ask because I know you that well; one, it’s because it’s too far. I know that it’s a stupid reason but I don’t want to leave my family and friends behind. Especially you. You’re my pillar of strength. Two, I’ll be alone there, and you and I both know that I-” What happened next came so fast, you didn’t even have a single second to react; a pair of strong arms enveloped you into a tight, warm embrace, while a low voice muttered out, “thank freaking goodness.” It was a simple phrase, but you could feel the relief radiating off of him. “Hey, we promised that we won’t leave each other behind, right? I know that you’ll keep your promise, and I’ll never break mine so don’t worry.”

A week had passed, and everything was fine until a rainy day, and Sakusa knew that something was going to happen. And he was right.

With the number of people surrounding you right now, Sakusa knows just what’s going on. You’re not a celebrity, no, but with your art pieces getting more and more recognition as time passes, alongside the fact that as you get more and more supporters, he knows that you’ll get busier coming up with more captivating pieces as your love for the subject grows bigger as the days pass. However, that’s also when his insecurities hit him. Hard. What if you get so busy that you have no more time for him? What if you start distancing yourself from him and eventually leave him?

When he sees and hears your supporters complimenting your works, another wave of insecurities hit him, harder this time around. He’s happy for you, he truly is. But he has never been the best at words, so he says the same thing every time you show him something that you come up with, “it’s great. I love it. Keep up the good work.” Are you sick of hearing the exact words every time you present to him a new piece of art that you took days and nights to come up with? Probably. Are you expecting him to show more appreciation for your work? Possibly. Maybe he isn’t the best friend that you want. Perhaps you need someone less boring and stoic. Stop thinking of things like that, she isn’t this shallow. She loves you the way you are… just not the way you love her.

Or so he thought.

Snapping out of his trance, he locked eyes with you while you bid goodbye to your supporters and made your way to him. As he listened to you narrate to him the conversations you just had, he did the usual; he listened to you, nodding occasionally to let you know that he wasn’t just hearing you speak, he was hearkening to you. I want to be like them too. I want to joke around with you and tell you how proud I am of you. “Omiii, what’s wrong?”

There was a long pause. You knew that something has been bothering him for the longest time but you didn’t want to force it out of him, plus you couldn’t figure out what issue he was facing. But with how out of it he had been looking for the past few weeks, you had to get the answer out of him. You’ve been worried about him, and you want him to share what has been concerning him. “Are you.. perhaps jealous of something? Or maybe someone?” You tried to lighten up his mood with a small joke, but as soon as the ‘j’ word left your mouth, you could visibly see his mood turning sourer, so you decided to stop teasing him.

“Talk to me, please.” Your voice was laced with care and worry.

Would you have expected what came next? Absolutely not. “Please don’t leave me.” You almost didn’t hear it since he voiced it out so softly, but thankfully, you did. Silence filled the air, as you stood completely still, taking in what he had just told you. Moments passed before you finally heard his voice again. “I can’t express my thoughts well, (Y/N). Seeing so many people come up to you and tell you what I’ve been wanting to tell you for years makes me feel like complete crap.” “Kiyoomi.” He didn’t know what came to him, but for once, he let his thoughts spill. “I’m so incredibly proud of all that you’ve achieved from doing what you love, (Y/N). To be on this journey with you every step of the way and seeing you overcome these obstacles from way back then to now, the amount of pride and joy that I feel is something that I’ll never be able to describe.” Tears welled up in his black orbs, nevertheless, he didn’t stop voicing out his thoughts. He had to, there was no turning back. “The fear that you’re going to leave me for someone better always haunts me, and truth to be told, I’m terrified of that thought, because that’s my biggest nightmare. I’m also in love with you, but I understand that you don’t feel the same way.” Crap, I didn’t mean to say that.

“Sakusa Kiyoomi.” You weren’t fazed by that last line at all, and he was shocked, to say the least. He rubbed his eyes and sniffled, looking straight into yours. “I’m not going to leave you. I made a promise, and I’ll keep it. Thank you for that little speech, I appreciate it a lot, and I know that it took you a lot of courage to tell me all that too,” you took a step towards him so that you’re right in front of him. Taking his large, warm hands in yours, you flashed an enthralling beam up at him. “Oh, if I haven’t mentioned this already; you don’t have to be jealous of anyone. I know what the true meaning of your words are, even if you don’t directly say them.” There was a small smile on his face, although you couldn't see it.

“I’m in love with you too, best friend.”

I hope you like it. 💗 

Do give me your opinions, good or bad!

Sending love and support.

- El.

[kyu-bri]

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@myrtenast3r J \ A \

II

COME LOOKIE PAW I CAUGHT ONE!

*ahem*

A quick giant rundown!!!!

Mami is a well-todo 15yr old girl of the 80s. She is very much in love with her Real Actual Explicitly Romantic Girlfriend Kyoko.

Mamis father is a medical scientist, currently working on a project to create synthetic organs and tissues for ailing people. He has recently teamed his efforts with an engineer with an affinity for Purple. I do not remember if purple guy made the animatronics but in my defense we recast who purple guy is believed to be every year.

Kyoko's father runs a very liberal unorthodox church, that believes in blasphemous things like Gay Is Okay and Abortion Is Not Murder

People murder Kyokos family over this

Mami finds her gfs church burning down, Kyoko the only one still alive- but severely burned and not hanging around for long

Kyoko stops breathing before they get to the hospital, and Mamis father, in panic and sympathy for his hysterical daughter, takes her into his lab and hooks her up on life support, he sets to calcifying her insides and rebuilding her bodyfunctions from the inside out.

The result is calcified balljointed skin and a brain full of electrified wire. Kyoko wakes up stoic and moving stiffly, slowly relearning how to articulate and react. The only semblance of her old self is being able to identify Mami, giving her joy and hope, and Mamis father severe anxiety.

Mamis father is secretly horrified at his frankensteinish recreation of a dead girl, he cancels his research afraid of what people might do if they could become completely synthetic, sentient machines. His engineering partner however, suggests ways to keep his discoveries from going to waste- by using them for entertainment purposes

Mostly headed by his partner, the Tomoe family opens a family restaurant business, quickly becoming renown for its state of the art animatronic technology, and by children for its adorable red showgirl

Mamis parents are killed in a sudden accident, leaving her as heiress to the business accompanied only by her stoic, ribbon covered stage singer girlfriend, and the creepy animatronic mechanic

Children start going missing

Mami discovers her fathers old partner has trained her undead android girlfriend to kidnap and murder children in addition to song and dance. Mami thinks thats fucked up

Dude turns on Mami but Kyoko kills him first.

Mami shuts down the business in grief and becomes a recluse, as some time passes she becomes unable to even confide in her girlfriend, now ex as Mami grows up and Kyokos left unaging with an electric brain that can only learn whats programmed, which would be creepy otherwise

A few years later, Madoka Kaname and timid Homura Akemi break into the closed down business. Homuras fondest childhood memories are of this establishment, and Madoka loves Homura very much.

Mami never figured out how to unteach Kyoko how to murder unattended children

Madoka is dead, as Mami frantically apologizes and scolds RoboKyoko and apologizes for the scolded RoboKyoko, Homura figures out what RoboKyoko is, she begs Mami to make Madoka the same. Mami can't pretend she hasn't learned the technology for different motives.

As she slowly rebuilds Madoka, Homura resigns herself to the same fate. She volunteers herself to become as Madoka will so she might always look after her.

Madoka reanimates somewhat more vacant and robotic then Kyoko, she learns the showtunes quickly though. In contrast, Homura is distressingly more aware, though discernably focussed on her only desire to keep Madoka safe. Mayhaps a side effect of being changed when both alive and knowing what was to come.

Considerably more traumatized now, Mami concludes that these girls need something to do with themselves. She reopens the restaurant.

She hires a security guard for the nightshift

Sayaka needed a summer job to distract her from her teenage angst and was pretty willing to work just for free pizza

The animatronics walking around at night and really wanting to get into her office is a great distraction

Sayaka isn't scared of ghosts nor death at this point though so she eventually confronts them. They just want to play with her. They're very lonely in the dark.

Sayaka suddenly recognizes Madoka as a missing girl at her school from a few months back. Sayaka is aware of the missing children rumors back when the place shut down in 87 and connects some dots.

Mami is here to relieve Sayaka of her post

Kyoko has learned that Murder Is Bad.

She stops Mami from harming Sayaka and forces the girls to come to a truce amongst their arguing. Sayaka has to promise not to tell the police about Mamis zombie performers and Mami not to kill her.

They're both lying

Mami leaves to let Sayaka find her way out. Going to the control room she *accidentally* triggers a security door Sayaka was just then walking through

But swiftly after, Homura prys the door open, and Kyoko lifts the unconsious girl and carries her to the lab. All while a ballet dancing Madoka pirouettes after them singing how everythings going to be alright.

Homura gets to saving the nearly eviscerated Sayaka.

Mami is confronted by Kyokos blankly staring face and does not interfere.

Sayaka is given a beautiful sparkling tail, and begrudgingly Mami installs a gel pool into the pirate themes play area. Though she does manage to communicate to Homura that Sayakas voicebox is much too dangerous to carry over

The building reopens the next week, though pirate bay is closed until they can be sure their new member can behave.

Sayaka is not stoic or stiff, she stays put and behaves largely out of the Depression

Mami does not advertise for another night guard

She gets saddled with one though. Two actually, this angry rich girl is very persuasive but really wants her dull boyfriend to be there to help her out.

Hitomi wants to find out what happened to Sayaka.

Kyosuke does not want to be here.

Djjsisjdisishdisus K THERE WE GO

I'll probably draw shit and update with it + a readmore later lmao

Cliffhanger there so I'm not spoiling the entIRE story if I wanna do anything for it later lmao

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression Ep 7 - Comme Des Garçons, criticism of wigs used in show.

K: This is Dir en grey's Kaoru, with The Freedom of Expression. Um, Last time...Oh, Joe san, Tasai san, welcome. Last time...I don't know if it was that movie's curse, but suddenly, there were technical issues..with the video.

J: The video crashed when we were talking at the end.

T: Really?

K: Yeh. But it happened once at first.

J: Yeh

K: Then after it happened the second time, we re-shot it properly.

J: Yes, we had tried before that, but it crashed again. Only when we were talking about that movie.

T: The second try was the same?

J: Yes, the video crashed.

K: It was only when we talked about that.

T: Scary!

K: *laughs*

J: Up to then, the first three episodes had been fine, but it was only when we talked about Antrum, the movie where you die if you watch it, that the technical trouble happened. And it happened twice. We really experienced that.

Kami: Stop talking about this! *K laughs a lot*

J: Oh, Kami is scared...a cowardly god can't do a night shift by himself, can he?

K: Ok, Joe, the topic this time please.

J: Yes, please listen to this news I found interesting.

"Comme Des Garçons, criticised for 'cultural appropriation' due to wigs used in show."

The Japanese fashion brand Comme Des Garçons have been accused of cultural appropriation, after using wigs of a haistyle often seen on black people, for a white model.

Comme Des Garçons introducted thier male Autumn-Winter collection during Paris fashion week on January 14th. On this occasion, some white male models appeared on the catwalk wearing wigs fashioned in the style of cornrows, which are mutliple small plaits. Criticisms such as, 'Thats offensive', or, 'Japan's avant-garde brands have taken a step back', appeared on social media. Comme Des Garçons have put out the following in response : 'The wigs used in the Comme Des Garçons 2020 male Autumn and Winter collection show were inspired by the look of an Egyptian prince, and were not intended to hurt or offend anyone. We sincerely apologize if we have caused offense'. The hairstylist responsibile for the wigs, Julien d'Ys, responded to the criticism on his Instagram: ' The items worn for Comme Des Garçons were insipred by an Egyptian prince, a style which I found beautiful and inspirational, a homage. It was never intended to offend. If I have hurt or offended anyone, I am truly sorry.' Although this post gained over 2000 likes,  it also recieved a lot of criticism.

Well, rather than cultural appropriation, this could be seen as an issue to do with racism. Using a black hairstyle on a white person...there is possibly some anger as to why a cosmopolitan white person did this. I mean, when you think about white culture appropriating black culture, the origin of Rock music was Blues. White bands like The Rolling Stones copied what was originally black music, and as a result rock was born, blues spread...So rather than misappropriation of black culture, you could ask why a black hairstyle was used on a white model is so offensive. What do you think about this, Kaoru?

K: Hmm, well...It looks ok to me.

J: I also couldn't really see a problem..

K: If you think about it rather in terms of spreading culture, how does it seem? It seems like it isn't forcibly connected to black culture. They just want to say that.

J: Ah, about the complaints *1

Kami: Never take away the freedom of wigs.

J: Oh, we've come to the freedom of wigs? The choice of which wig to wear?

Kami: Yes..what type of wig should they wear?

J: Well, yes.

K: It might be like if a white person paints thier face to look like a black person.

J: Oh yeh, they used to do that in American comedies and such, white people would on paint thier faces to imitate black people, and black people were very insulted by this, so it became a problem. Well, if you are in Japan its not easy to understand, but you could say there is still quite a division, a wall...between white and black people.

K: Thats right.

T: What about that group 'Rats and Star'?

J: I don't think that was seen as a problem in Japan. Its because in Japan there were not that many black people here. If they did that in America they would be ridiculed.

Kami: Is painting your face white ok?

J: What do you mean? Painting your face to look like a white person?

Kami: No, painting your face completely white.

J, K, T: Ahh.

Kami: If a Japanese or Asian person did that, they wouldn't be seen as trying to imitate white people would they?

K: Ah, well..thats a good point, they wouldn't really.

Kami: If you say that, it never ends.

J: Yes, i think so.

Kami: So never take away the freedom of wigs.

J : The freedom of wigs *laughs*

Kami: Also never steal wigs.

J: Right...Are you surrounded by many people connected with wigs?

K: Oh, but there were also black models wearing these wigs!

J: Yes, there were..I can't help feeling this is close to an unjust charge...However, what exactly is discrimination/racism? On the one hand, when white people paint themselves, black people call out the discrimination, but racial discrimination is a very complex problem . To ask, 'what is discrimination?', well,  im gonna get serious here, 'discrimination' is something that can't be logically explained. For example, in America, university intake is very ethnically balanced. They are raising the pass numbers for Asians, or for black people, so as to maintain diversity. If they didn't, there would be only white people. So they go ahead and lower the number of passes for white people and raise them for black people, or that type of thing, or vice versa. So as for a logical explanation, no one challenges this in America. However, there was that news in Japan last year about lowering pass marks for female entrance to medical school. This could not be logically expained in Japan. For example, whether or not its right, if they had said there was a shortage of emergency staff in hospitals, so we need to utilize more male doctors from now on or something...then there is a possibility it might have been accepted, but actually that situation could not be logically explained. That was seen as total gender discrimination. In this current case, the Comme Des Garçons hairstylist has given a clear explanation, so if you try to pick a fight with that, this will never end. I do not think this is discrimination, I think the people who are saying that are the more prejudiced ones.

K: Yes

Kami: Japan is discriminatory, right?

J: Yes, I think it is. All countries have discrimination, but its become almost taboo to talk about discrimination in this country. Freely talking about these taboos isn't much forgiven by the media, so awareness towards them is steadily slipping away. In America you bump into these issues from time to time, so there are many opportunities for people there to talk about them, for better or worse. In Japan we don't have those opportunities, we don't get under the surface, and we just bury the problems.

T: We (Japan) are really bad at debate.

J: Especially.

T: It always ends up becoming an emotional debate.

J: Yes, it does.

T:....'I hate those guys..' etc.

K: Thats true, yeh.

J: Well, I don't think Comme Des Garçons needed to apologize really.

K, T: Yeah

J: People are quick to apologize these days.

K: Yeah

T: If you have an idea, you should assert it

J: Yes, yes, but they caused discomfort. If I had to say, anything you say can cause discomfort to someone.

K: Yes, i think so.

J: Do you get complaints?

K: I don't, but our office might, Im not sure.

J: Well, but I think art can hurt people, it can cause discord, right?

K: Mmm.

J: It can't be helped really.

Kami: No, but if you apologize, its all over quickly.

J: *laughs* I see. He's keeping it real. Kami, do you apologize when you make a mistake?

Kami: Oh, yes. Like, 'im sorry, im sorry!' *everyone laughs*

K: Even when you didn't do anything wrong?

Kami: Of course...it draws out if you get angry.

J: Well, yes.

K: Ahh, getting angry is annoying, so just apologize.

Kami: Yes, its too much, trouble so i just apologize.

K: How about that?

Kami: But never take away the freedom of wigs.

J: In relation to that right?

K: Okay well...

K,T: Yep

K: Thank you very much, please watch again next time.

T: And please subscribe.

*1 Did i understand this correctly?

*also, ヅラ is wig??

[ldrmas]

OctoLolli Full Story

~~ This is based on https://www.instagram.com/p/CB_9reanS0H/ & https://www.instagram.com/p/CDC_IH5nLpg/  by  Ordinary__Art , please go check out her art!! All her art! SHES NOW ON TWITTER TOO AH I’M SO EXCITED!!

This is the full story from the part 1 post. The part 1 was just a tease but this is the full story! 

Btw OctoLolli is Remus and Logan, aka Intrulogical just so you all know! 

This will also mention Patton, Janus, etc. Remember I’m really bad at writing Remus so if he is a little oc I’m very sorry! I have no beta as well so if there are mistakes I apologize for those as well.  

Also Tagglist: @decadentscissorsapricotdeputy  Warnings for Swearing from Remus and Presmut attraction and activities!

 ~~

Logan could admit that he was becoming a hypocrite. He was getting on Thomas’s case anytime he had a chance to about sleeping in a perfect sleep schedule. And it had been that he would follow the same schedule, but lately that was not the case. After Janus had took his seat at the table, Thomas had been slightly more selfish. He had even admitted to his followers that he was finally taking a break.

Logan would never tell anyone, but he had been the one side who had been there to witness Janus’s break down dance in victory after Thomas made the announcement. It had made Logan begin to think. If Thomas could take a break for himself then Logan could be a little less strict. As long as Thomas was getting 7 hours of sleep like a grown adult should, then that was all that mattered. If seven hours were achieved then Logan was alright. He wouldn’t bother Thomas unless he deeply needed to step in and remind Thomas to sleep. That wasn’t the same for Logan. It didn’t just happen one night. It happened gradually.

He stayed up later and later and then it became that he would stay up for 24 hrs at a time. Being just a side, an imagined figment, he did not actually need to sleep. The sides slept so to perform at the best of their abilities. Not sleeping hadn’t hindered Logan yet so for now he would continue to perform his tasks until all the work was completed. But he didn’t always work in his room. It wasn’t his rooms fault. He couldn’t exactly blame his room which had been programmed by him. His room would in a way shut down at 8 every night. When he had been on a sleep schedule in the past, he had wanted it that way. But now not so much. He started working in the Mind Palace Common area, specifically at the table that was just outside the kitchen. He would only have a few lights on so he could see his screen but not bring notice that he was working in the room. The other sides usually were asleep when he was out there working, so he was never concerned about being found out. Then one night an interaction occurred that Logan didn’t quite suspect would happen.   The light sides and dark sides rooms were in two different parts of the MindScape. The Mind Palace usually looked Thomas’s apartment since it was the space they all basically knew by heart and could recreate without any trouble. Up the staircase was where one would find the “light” sides bedrooms. Janus’s room had just been recently added after the events of their latest video and though the others had been surprised, Logan hadn’t really been. Janus and Patton needed to start working together so that if Thomas came against another mature problem then they could confront it as a team instead of sending Thomas into another mental health breakdown. They couldn’t exactly learn to work together and start to get along better if Janus was still living and staying in the “dark” side. Logan didn’t like labeling them like they always had. Not one of the sides could be put in either category of light or dark. They were all just a part of Thomas and were doing the jobs given to them. No more no less. There was a “hidden” door attached to the stairs that led down to the “dark” side common space. The only thing about the dark sides space was that they didn’t have a kitchen. The only kitchen was in the light space. So both sides had to share the kitchen. Logan shouldn’t have been surprised that eventually he would meet one of the dark sides during his nightly escapades. Logan had taken a second to stretch and rub at his neck. The room was so quiet without his loud typing. It was in that moment that Remus slammed open the dark side door and stormed into the kitchen. In the second Remus had opened the fridge, the light of the appliance shined upon him and Logan was able to catch a glimpse of his outfit. His mouth immediately went dry and he felt like he couldn’t breathe. Remus was in a simple suite jacket and pants. The jacket was nightshade of black with mother of pearl lapels. The undershirt was Remus’s signature green color but instead of looking bad with the other parts of the suit it just added the perfect amount of color the creativity side needed to make the outfit look drop dead perfect. Logan was also able to see just a quick look at Remus’s face. He had on what appeared to be a very light shade of blush on the high of his cheeks and his hair was slightly curled as well. If Logan had to guess he would dare even say that it looked like Remus’s mustache had been groomed as well.

The dark side slammed the kitchen fridge door shut and started chugging the bottle of water he had grabbed. He must have been somewhat pissed to have grabbed a normal substance instead of the usual stuff Remus consumed. He still had yet to notice Logan was watching his every move. Usually Logan would have wanted to keep it that way. Remus would eventually go back down the stairs and Logan could resume his work. It appeared though that wasn’t something Logan had wanted. He was curious of why Remus was dressed this way and he wanted-no needed to know more about what was going on. So as Remus left the kitchen to go back downstairs, he was just about to grab the door, Logan spoke up.

“Remus?” “MO----ER F----KER, J----US SH-T ON A M---THER F—KING CRACKER!” Remus screamed and Logan held back a chuckle as the light side common place had took the liberty to bleep out Remus’s curse words. That was no doubt Patton’s doing. Remus turned on the lights and faced Logan, looking at him in complete disbelief. “What the f---king h-ll, Logic! You are g-d da-n lucky I didn’t have my mother f--king morningstar or I would have clobbered you to death! Je—s, why am I’m getting bleeped! What I’m saying isn’t as strong because of it!” Remus growled as he looked to the ceiling, as if that was the whole reason he was getting bleeped. “Why the h-ll are you sitting there in the dark?” “I’m working.” Logan answered simply as he gestured to his laptop. He closed it knowing that now he had Remus’s attention he wouldn’t be doing work for a while. Remus moved to the table and sat across from him chugging the water once more. Once he was done with that, he struck the water down upon the table, he leveled Logan with a glare. He wasn’t happy about Logic scaring him. He was usually the one to terrify the other sides. “You’re working out here why exactly?” “Do I get to ask a question if I answer yours?” “Like what we play 20 questions or something?” Remus chuckled as he swirled around the water in the bottle as if it was a fine wine. “I just don’t believe it would be justifiable if I answer and then you just leave me hanging.” Logan replied with a slight shrug. It was reasonable. Janus and Remus were known for not giving answers if they didn’t want to. “Fair enough. I’ll answer all your questions as long as you answer mine.” “You know me, Remus, I could never leave a question unanswered.” Logan answered as an agreement which brought a chuckle from the dark creativity side. “Yeah Yeah, Pocket Protector, now I believe you haven’t answered my question yet?” Remus commented as he waved his hand over his water bottle which magically refilled it. He took another sip from it never losing eyesight with Logan. “Oh yes, of course, I’m working out here because my room basically shuts down at 8 o’ clock every night.” “Shut down?” “Yes, the lights turn off and my power outlets don’t work. You know what I say no electronics 30 minutes before bed, so my room does that. But there is work to be done so I work out here now.” “Okaaaaaaaaaayy….” Remus drew out the word as he took a second to think about what exactly the Logical side was saying to him.

“So you work out here and let me see it’s…” Remus used a tentacle that appeared from his back to move his suit sleeve back. He looked down to a watch that probably just materialized on his wrist to make his point. “…It’s 5 am and how many days have you been out here working all night long?” “I’ve been doing this since the wedding video.” Logan replied truthfully, though he looked away for he realized how bad that sounded.   “That’s what I thought. Yoink!” Remus had actually said the word “yoink” out loud and it was then that Logan realized that one of Remus’s tentacles had wrapped around his laptop, sliding it toward the mustached man. Logan was too late to stop it from happening. One moment the laptop was wrapped in octopus tentacles and the next it disappeared in thin air. “Hey! Remus!” Logan shouted, nearly shooting up from his chair. “Remus, give that back right this moment!” “Nope.” Remus smacked his lips to emphasize the ‘p’. Logan glared deadly at him and held out his hand in demand for his laptop back. Remus only smirked. “Relax, nerdy wolverine. It’s in a safe place in my room. In the next 24 hrs if you sleep for a full 7 hours then you’ll get it back.” Remus explained as he admired one of his several tentacles as if it was a hand of nails. “And how exactly will you know that I have slept for that time?” “I have my ways.” The dark creativity side chuckled ominously as his eyes meet the Logical’s side. Logan shuddered either in fear or in curiosity, he couldn’t exactly tell in the moment. Did he really want to know how Remus would know that he slept? Most likely not. “Alright. I’m not happy about this but there is nothing I can do at this point to change it. Now I believe since you have gotten to ask your questions it is my turn. Why are you dressed as such?” “Heh. Well it’s story-time…” Remus paused with a smirk to let the joke linger. Logan suppressed his own small smile. He had always wanted to hear what “story-time” would sound like from the intrusive thoughts being. “…Anyway so you remember that post Thommy-salamony posted on Instagram the other day?” “The Spotify one with the flower crown, yes.” Logan recalled with an agreeing nod.

“Yep, that’s the one. Anyway, Janus and I were talking about it today. Annnnd long story short you would think with how long I’ve been in creation I would have learned by now that I can’t beat Janus in any bet. Since I haven’t learned it yet, I lost the bet and now I gotta wear this monkey suit for another six hours.” Remus explained once he glanced at the watch on his human wrist once again. “I have been in this for so long that Janus has taken one million and one pictures of me on his phone and if I had to deal with him for one more second I would have done several unpleasant things to him. I came up here to get a f—cking break.” “I understand if this may be rude to say but may I too take a picture of you?” Logan took a chance to ask but wasn’t surprised when Remus growled at him.

“No, you may f—king not! I’ll tell Janus that you want some of his pics, I’m sure our snake-boi will share them.” Logan nodded knowing that was reasonable. Remus was probably on his last straw and the logical side didn’t wish to further anger the manifestation being of dark creativity. Remus laid out on the table with a deep sigh.

Logan could now see just how weary the green colored side seemed and he felt sorry for him.

“Well, despite you hating your attire, I am grateful that you came up here and I have gotten this chance to see you. You say your clothes are a monkey suit, but I must say you wear this suit quite beautifully. It compliments you very well.” Logic went on to say as he leaned back in his seat but didn’t look away from Remus. One could even say he was gazing at Remus as if he was in a trance of sorts. It was almost as if he was trying to take several mental snap shots of Remus to save for himself. It also could have been that he was trying to take in as much detail of Remus’s outfit as quickly as he could in fear that he would never see it again. Remus too was gazing at the navy colored side but for different reasons. “Back up there, Teach, did you…did you just call me …beautiful?” Remus asked nervously as if he was fearful that he had misheard Logan to begin with. Logan coughed into his fist, and since the intrusive thoughts had turned on the lights, they were both able to see the red start to spread across his cheeks. “I did, though I believe I said you are wearing the suit beautifully, which yes means you are beautiful in the suit.” “What the f—ck is that suppose to mean?” Remus asked wanting Logan to explain further on what he was saying. “Well…what I mean is…” Logan started as the blush now was fully engulfing his face. He also looked away from Remus so that he may gather his thoughts.

“…Your regular outfit suits you quite favorably as well, but your current outfit is, I must admit, quite surprising. In a superb way, I mean. I must say that you look so elegant in a way that I frankly never considered that you could….” Logan paused as he too came to the same realization of Remus. He now understood how what he was saying sounded. His blush deepened. 

“Ap-Apologizes, Remus. I-I don’t quite understand where that came from… I think…Please, excuse me.” Logan tried to get up from his seat to escape but Remus was faster. His tentacles had swiftly wrapped around the logical side securing him to the chair. Remus wouldn’t allow him to leave that easily. Though it wasn’t as if Logan struggled against the octopi appendages. Logic knew he would not be able to get away from Remus’s hold.  

He only gulped audibly as Remus came around the table and sat upon it right in front of the teacher like side. The intrusive thoughts being perched upon the table yet leaned forward cupping Logan’s jaw affectionately in his palm.

“Remus…”

“Oh, Lolo, I finally understand. You, Mr. Logic, are Thomas’s suit kink.” “I beg your pardon?”

“Oh, come on Lollipop,” Remus laughed as he leaned back on the table. “You of all sides understand what my job as “Dark Creativity” is composed of. Intrusive Thoughts, nightmares, blasphemous thinking,  etc etc. And we can’t forgot the juiciest of all?” “Sexual Desires.”

“Very good, Smart Heart Bear! Anyhow, sexual desires includes sexy kinks, fetishes, and or fantasies. I know all of Thomas’s kinks from A to Z. I mean let’s be honest my brother is a f—king deer in the headlights once romance gets to the R-rated scenes. I mean sure RowRow can sweep any partner off their feet but once we to the bedroom, then it’s me time!” “Now so back what to I was saying, kinks! There have always been one or two I couldn’t for the life of me figure out, but I had found where most of them had come from. Oh, do you want to know what Patton’s is?” “Not particularly.”

“Sure you do! Patton’s is baking sex. Or sex in the kitchen. Or whatever he wants to call it. Your Happy Pappy has some pretty nasty thoughts when it comes to cooking twine, let me tell ya.” Remus snickered while Logan suppressed a shudder as he even considered what scenarios that thought could lead to.

“But anyway, like I said, I could see where most of them had come from, but I never had yours. I’m so stupid, I should have seen it. You are turned on by men in full suits. This outfit is turning you on. How did I not see that the man that is always in a tie was my connection to Thomas’s suit fetish? It’s so boringly oblivious now that I see how flushed you are in front of me.” Remus observed while reaching with one of his tentacles to start undoing his cuff links. Logan watched like a man possessed as the cuff links came off and the sleeves wrists unbuttoned. His mouth dried as the sleeves were slowly rolled up by Remus’s elegant fingers. Once both sleeves were comfortably up on Remus’s arms, he also took a second to run his right hand through his curled locks. The simple act turned the tips of Logan’s ears red.

The Intrusive Thoughts side never looked as hawt as he did just then, and Logan would have probably given anything in that moment to freeze time, so that he may enjoy the sight for as long as he wished.

“Holy sh-t, you really are turned on! Heh, must suck to be attracted to the bad guy, huh Logic?” And just like that Logan was snapped out of his distressed state and sat up straight in the chair. The lust that he had once felt was gone and now he wished he had just one arm free. He wanted to reach out to Remus desperately. “Remus…I know this won’t sound as if I’m being sincere because you will think I’m just saying this because of your clothes but I’m still going to say it.”

“Remus, I never once thought of you as the villain.” Logan took the moment to make sure the green colored side was seriously looking at him.

“You are not a bad guy, Remus. You did your job as a side nothing more nothing less. You can’t help that you were dealt the dreadful cards but just because you were, it does not in any way make you evil. Or the villain or the antihero.” “Or even a dark sid-“ Logan gasped loudly as the tentacle suddenly released him and he was roughly pulled forward. A hand had wrapped around his tie and jerked him towards the table, nearly causing him to fall off his chair.

More than that, his gasp was silenced as lips fell upon his in a deep bruising kiss. It was a surprise and just for a moment something within Logan yelled at him to pull away, yet he quickly dismissed such a thought. Instead he leaned into the action and once he got his bearings returned the passion that Remus was sharing with him. It was only when he placed his hand on Remus’s cheek that he realized the other was crying. “Shut up.” Remus wept once the two finally separated but Remus didn’t let go of the tie. He held onto it in a death grip. “You gotta shut up! You-you can’t say things like that when your looking so f--kable, Lo.”

“No.” Logan replied once he was able to catch his breath.

“I won’t stop saying it. You need to know what I think! You need to know that even without the suit, I have always thought you were beautiful. That I secretly have had a small crush on you.” Logan admitted as he tried to turn his head away. Remus stopped him by grabbing his jaw once again. “F—k, Logan.” Remus whispered then brought their lips together again for another kiss. This one just as passionate as the first but was shorter. Remus smirked at the whimper Logan let out once he had pulled away. “Me too. I was mad crushing on you for so long, Apple Watch.” Logic chuckled at the nickname, knowing there was no meanness behind the words. They sat there in silence just holding onto one another.  If there was certainly a moment that Logan wanted to last for eternity, then it would have been this one. The two of them in each other’s embrace letting their feelings be shared by touch alone. “This sucks.” Remus finally groaned as he nuzzled his forehead against the blue colored side’s. “What do you mean?” “I want to f—k you so bad right now. I want to make love to you for so long that you wouldn’t even be able to get up if Thomas called for you.” Remus pressed his lips to Logan’s once more and though he made sure to make it last longer than the second time, he still pulled away too soon for Logic’s liking. “But I won’t. You need sleep. I may be intrusive thoughts, but I won’t take advantage of you when your practically dead on your feet.  I hate to say it, but we waited this long, what’s seven more hours, am I right?” Logan grasped onto the hand that was still secure around his tie. “You promise me that we will pursue this after I sleep? I won’t just wake up and have to go back to believing that I never even cross your mind?”

Logan’s fears were answered with another kiss, a gentle reassuring one this time. “Seven hours, then you’ll never be rid of me again, Glasses.” Logic chuckled at the answer, though it seemed forced. He didn’t want to continue these next few hours alone. Not when they had at last admitted out loud and to each other about what they felt for one another. Remus was right though, Logan was dead on his feet. These last few moments without his laptop had given his body the chance to let the months of backed up exhaustion wash over him. He was convinced he wouldn’t even had been able to stay awake through foreplay let alone other sexual activities. He had Remus’s word. Once he awoke, they would explore this relationship further, or at least he hoped this thing between them would turn into a relationship.

Logan jumped as Remus deeply chuckled. “Go, Logan. Go to bed. I can practically hear your thoughts from over here. We’ll talk when you’re up.” Logan rose from the chair but before sinking out he was the one who initiated a kiss this time. He even made sure to run his tongue along Remus’s lips causing the neon green side to groan loudly in need.

Logan pulled away with a victorious smirk. “Until then, Octo.” Remus smirked as the Logical side sank down through the floor. He ran his fingertips along his lips still faintly feeling Logan’s own lips against them. “I’ll see you soon, Lollipop.” ~ Bonus ~ Remus did his best to stay away. He really had but as the hours dragged on and on, he was getting more and more impatient. It was finally just one hour left. Remus wouldn’t dare wake the side but that didn’t mean he couldn’t go to his room. Right? Remus sank out in front of Logan’s door quietly. It was now the middle of the afternoon. The other sides were up and about doing their daily endeavors. He was thankful that Thomas hadn’t called for them all. He probably would have tried, and of course fail since he was imaginary, to punch Thomas in the face if he had even tried to call for Logan while the side finally slept.  

Remus didn’t think on that any further and instead tried Logan’s door. If he stood out here any longer one of the others might see him. It was a shock that the door opened for him. He didn’t wait too long to think about it and quickly shuffled into the room, silently closing the door behind him. He hadn’t awakened Logan by entering the room. That was a good start. He crossed the room with ease since there was a soft glowing night light on the far side of the room. Once he made it to the edge of Logan’s bed it was there that he paused. Would it be too bold of him to join Logan? He wouldn’t touch the sleeping Logical side but would it still be too much if he got into the blue side’s bed? Before his thoughts to tumble into the mess of what ifs, he took the chance. He let his shirt disappear but left on a pair of comfy sleep pants. He eased into the open space in Logan’s bed and happily sighed as he sank into the perfect pillows and mattress. He let himself drift between awake and sleep, but his eyes opened as he felt Logan turn towards him as the hour came to an end. Logan didn’t react once he felt another being in his bed, he just rolled towards it in curiosity. Once he saw the wisps of white bangs and the constellation of freckles upon ivory skin, a smile shaped upon his face. “Good morning, Octo.” “Morin’, Lollipop.”

~The End!!~~

[disenchantedfaerie]

We’re still playing games, won’t you join?

I didn’t really listen to the entire thing. I was mostly just interested in the part about the rant. What I love most about this is still the fact that no one mentions why he was called out in the first place. He doesn’t mention it. CB doesn’t mention it. No one does. It’s just poor SH couldn’t take it anymore. He is poor abused Sam and it was the right time to share his feelings. He doesn’t mention it was all in response to the “small group of very vocal people” who used their voices to point out his covidiocy. And what did they get in return? Hate from this worshippers loyal followers and his blocking them from his SM. Read that again. HATE from his followers, the very thing he was reprimanding the fandom for is what they were doing to the “small group of people” that called him out for the lies and the blatant disrespect of what was happening.

Again, I don’t discount his feelings and if he truly does have mental health issues, I really hope and pray he finds a way to seek the help he needs. Mental health is no joke. I know. I deal with it daily. Bullying and stalking is not acceptable on any level ever. As someone in the public eye, I’m sorry that they have to deal with that. We’ve all heard the horror stories. The thought of stalking a celeb to find their whereabouts would never occur to me. If I run into someone on the street randomly, LUCKY ME! But to seek them out? No thank you. I don’t have that kind of time. I lived in LA for 17 years. I met a few celebs when I was following bands in Hollywood. Met them. Maybe had a drink or two, some nice conversation or a hug. That’s it. I didn’t follow them home or try to find them in hopes we could have a relationship, friendship or anything else. End of story.

Which leads me back to the main issue. Why did he really feel the need to drop that rant on that fateful day? It wasn’t really about the bullying and stalking. It was to change the focus of the fact that he fucked up by going to Hawaii in the midst of a global pandemic with someone, as far as we all know, he barely knew, and then bragged about it and let us know how hard he works and how much he deserved it when other harder working people had to cancel their plans. Let’s not forget it was just a few days before the Gaga special as well. Damage control. Simple. He then further punished his worshippers loyal followers and the rest of the fandom by tweeting and IGing sporadically, not interacting and staying quiet. Maybe he should have done that to begin with but attention is attention whether it’s good or bad.

And for what? A vacation? Really? New Orleans was all work? New York? Vegas? Oregon? Mexico? Mammoth? Big Sur? LA? He was working 24/7 (like all our front line doctors/nurses/delivery/all ESSENTIAL workers) the entire time he was brought to America? That’s truly amazing. What stamina he must have coming off of 10 long months of filming where again there was absolutely no down time ever. All work and no play makes Sammy a dull boy I guess.

The response however from STARZ and his coworkers has been very telling in my opinion. There really hasn’t been much interaction and for being one of the leads in the show it’s simply amazing how his live IGs have been cancelled time and again and OL STARZ hasn’t supported him doing one like they did for all the lesser cast. Interesting, yes?

I know I keep saying it over and over and I likely will keep saying it in the hopes that the guy I thought I followed when I started watching this show will apologize for discounting this pandemic and not following the advice of his government and being an entitled jerk about it when he was called out. If he thought he was really right, why lash out? Because deep down, he knew he was wrong but as a spoiled, selfish, entitled git, he had to show everyone just exactly who he is. Thank you. I’m glad he did. He’s saved me heartache and money.

I feel like I’m blathering but it’s my blog so I can. My final point is about this interview. When asked what the first thing is he wants to after this is over? He briefly said oh friends and family, but see my good old coworker Cait, hug my good old coworker Cait because that means they’re back at work. Feed a shipper much? That statement on the heals of the IG story he posted and where he asked for captions? Not a photo of J/C. No. That would have made too much sense. It was a photo of S/C with a cutesy little heart. Feed the shippers much? I just cannot with these people. They can’t have it both ways. Who are the biggest trolls in the fandom? STARZ and the leads. They started it. They keep feeding it. It will never end. What is he really going to do when OL is no more? Slip back into obscurity and hopefully (fingers crossed) live his actual truth if he even remembers what that is? Or will he continue with the lies because this taste of fame is too much to resist? Who will he fall back on when he can’t hide behind the show or his good old coworker, his number one woman to be associated with? What then? Be on another series, if he can, and be shipped with his costar again? And start the entire process all over? Be careful what you wish for. You may just actually get it. I feel bad for his mum. I can’t wait to see mine again, to hug her, have a meal with her, just sit with her and look at her. My coworkers will come and go. I only get one mum.

Next time I’m going to lay my thoughts on you about Dwayne Johnson The Rock. I read an interview with him recently and it restored my faith in humanity and elite A-List celebs. That’s for next time. Stay tuned.

I’ll be watching. I’ll be posting. 🖤💙🤍

[voicesofchaos]

VOC’s Review of the art of Magic The Gathering Core 2021

I an no art expert. Never studied art professionally. But I do consider myself a Vorthros (someone who appreciates the art, story, and flavor of Magic The Gathering). So I have been wanting to this for a while so let’s try it. If this is liked then maybe I will do it again for Zendikar Raising. I’m not going through every card in the set. Just a handful that really stood out to me and I just want to talk about.

Indulging Patrician by Miranda Meeks

Normally I like to save the best for last but this one is so obviously the best art in the set that I need to lead with it. When I first saw this card revealed my jaw dropped. It is purely captivating! It embodies what vampire artwork wants to be. From the powerful dominant vampire woman in the center, to her poor powerless victim, to the beautiful blood moon behind her, to the swarm of ominous bats, all highlighted with blood. Of course the traditional gender role reversal feels so perfect and not forced here. It is a beautiful artwork and you should want to play Magic just to look at this card. 

Liliana's Scorn by Josh Hass

We are not moving away from the gothic horror yet though. This is sadly a card that most players will never see as it isn’t in the Core 2021 booster packs but is in the Liliana planeswalker deck. Making this art very easy to overlook but quite impressive when examined. You really feel the struggle of the victim as he fights a losing battle against a horde of zombies. Being in the center you might think he is the protagonist that we cheer on to escape but Liliana even in the backgrounds steals the scene and you know she wins this fight. This is just a great group piece where each individual zombie displays a surprisingly amount of depth which truly makes this piece feel even more hopeless for the poor victim and even more empowering for Liliana.

Basri's Solidarity by Paul Scott Canavan

Basri Ket is a new planeswalker in the set but instead of looking at him directly let’s check out his magic instead. This is a piece that perfectly embodies cooperation and teamwork, Each figure looks quite a bit different, has a different background, and a different specialization. Yet they are all subtlety bonded together through the sand that basri controls. The way it wraps around and protects them all it a cool and powerful effect.

Obsessive Stitcher by  Joe Slucher

And we are back to dark and creepy. But I can’t ignore in crazy details in this artwork. On Innistrad, the doctor Frankenstein-like scientists that create ‘zombies’ though alchemy and science rather than straight-up necromancy are called “Stichers”. And this one piece explains all that without any words (except for the 1000 words a picture is worth). The corpses all have different faces showing that this is not simply a construct made from a generic stock but instead were actual living human beings at one point. The ominous green vat behind her is hooked up to them pumping them full of something that can’t be good. Plus we also have ominous test tubes in the background to really hammer in the point of “evil mad scientist”.But then her actual clothes has lots of handy tools to show a devoted craftsman. As she literally stitches thread through not only her diabolic experiment but also her passionate artwork. And finally I did not even notice until seeing the enlarged art but she is missing her right hand! I assume this counts as positive disabled representation right?

Village Rites by Bud Cook

I promise this is the last dark and creepy card (maybe) on the list but I have to give this one a shout-out. It is a throwback and homage to the card Village Cannibals from Innistrad. Even the same artist. Definitely one of my all-time favorite MTG arts so I am very happy to see a remake of that art! It is nice when Magic throws in the little nostalgia winks randomly.

Tolarian Kraken by Svetlin Velinov

Magic will often use what they call “Scale Birds” to show how big something is. These are tiny birds near a creature to show how much bigger the creature is than the birds and give a size comparison. Sometimes birds are too small and they use something like “”Scale Deer” or other mammals. Well then those are still too small we now have a “Scale Castle”! What is more terrifying than a Kraken this big! As if that isn’t bad enough it’s brain is actually visible and has like lightning coming from it or something. This feels like a very epic piece where you can feel the motion and terror from it.

Daybreak Charger by Forrest Imel

The next several arts are going to be under the category of “Things MTG does all the time but needs to make it new each time.” I feel it is most appropriate to start with this unicorn. You see unicorns take occupy a very unique position in both general fantasy genre and pop culture itself. Unicorns are very recognizable so they are very much a great fantasy trope to include. But they also have a reputation of being aimed at “young girls” and in the process made to seem very soft and non-threatening. MTG is a game about combat! You don’t want to summon a gentle non-threatening creature to fight for you but it wants to have unicorn cards. Meaning it wants “badass unicorns!”. Well they absolutely succeed here! But the beautiful thing is they need to over-correct. It wasn’t necessary to paint it all black and cover it in blood. We don’t need to put it on a heavy metal album cover to show its fierce side. Instead bright light is used in a way that makes it seem comforting but also powerful and not to be messed with. This is a unicorn that you are relieved to be on your side and terrified of seeing on your opponent’s side. That takes serious talent to bring it all together! 

Chandra's Incinerator by  Craig J Spearing

First I apologize that this art is a little cropped from the original. What is another thing that shows up all the time in fantasy art? FIRE! It gets hard to draw fire so often and make it feel different. This is a fire elemental so that is a bit different but still something we have seen a lot. The card Fire Elemental was in the very first Magic set. That card has had 4 different artworks and 3 other cards have some for of Fire Elemental in their name (Deepfire Elemental, Firefiend Elemental, and Wildfire Elemental). This one is clearly meant to be a nostalgic nod to the original art and it works so well! The fire is so detailed and intimidating but the creature is very expressive. It is very refreshing to see yet another Fire Elemental in such a new fashion and perspective.

Terror of the Peaks by Andrey Kuzinskiy

How many times have we seen a dragon in MTG? Over 200 times!! This set alone has 3 dragons! We have seen zombie dragons, skeleton dragons, dragons who breath lightning, dragons that breath frost, dragons covered in metal, and all kinds of other dragons. But sometimes you just need to go back to basics. But basics do not need to be boring. As we see here this is an awesome basic dragon that embodies everything you think of when you think of dragons yet still blows you away with how awesome it is! This is quality dragon art

Shacklegeist by Igor Kieryluk

Ghosts and spirits are again a common trope that gets redone a lot. I really like how this piece can just take a mundane object with some symbolism behind it and just make an entirely new creature from it. This is basically a giant lock with ominous chains attached being held by a specter and it all works so well together! This art style being more watercolors is a nice final touch to give this piece a spooky feeling but also a really cool feeling too.

Rousing Read by Campbell White

I am going to end this with a bit of a weird piece but I didn’t want to leave it out. This is apparently a follow-up to the card Hard Cover from the core set before. This guy has magical wings made from the pages of a book! Like I don’t have anything else to add. That is cool enough by itself.

Special Mentions

Alchemist's Gift, Chandra Heart Of Fire, Garruk’s Uprising, Peer Into The Abyss, and Sanguine Indulgence. All cards with awesome art but I don’t want this post to go on forever (and some of them I couldn’t find good clean versions of just the art). Please tell me what art from Core 2021 I missed that you really liked!

[littlejeanniebean]

peter parker goes to marvel high (normal mcu au)

A/N: Peter’s first day of high school ft. Shuri, Mr. Stark, Mr. Loki, and co. ~1700 words teenaged angst then fluff. More Peter x Shuri in my masterlist :)

Heavily inspired by this post by @spellbounding-slytherin

I’m also a big fan of @tinymintywolf​‘s art :))

- J xx

Fact: Peter Parker was a nervous wreck. May, ever the optimist, had patted his cheeks, kicked him out of the car, and told him to have a good day. Peter had never had a good first day of school. He was smart but had a severe attention deficit, so even his teachers never liked him. His one best friend throughout junior high, Ned Leeds, had moved to New Jersey, so he would probably end up eating alone in some empty classroom just to be safe. And he’d met the principal at orientation last Friday. He had an eye patch and a perpetual frown, used to head up the corrections department for youth offenders. So yeah, high school was going to suck big time.

“Move it, dickwad,” one of the larger boys shoved past him at the door to his homeroom.

Peter strategically chose a seat in the ambiguous, unnoticeable middle. 

A short, bright-eyed girl marched up to him, “You’re in my seat.”

“Sorry! Sorry!” he tried to pick up his backpack but the strap was caught on the leg of his chair, so he just kind of ended up spilling himself over the floor. 

“Crap, I was just messing with you, kid,” she helped him up, “You good?”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry,” he just sort of stood there awkwardly, not meeting her eyes. 

“Dude, you gotta stop apologizing. I’m sorry, okay?” she tried to get him to look at her, “I’m Shuri. I have a messed up sense of humour that scares away any friends I might’ve ended up having. Is it cool if I sit next to you?”

“Yeah, sure,” he nodded, “I’m Perker Pat - Parker Pete - Peter Parker.”

“Cool.”

“Dude, you are sad,” the boy who shoved him coming into the room twirled an expensive-looking pen, sparing him the most derisive of sideways glances.

Peter was saved from actually having to come up with a response when their teacher walked in two-minutes after the bell and put his feet up on his desk, “Okay, kiddies. My name is Mr. Stark, you may call me Mr. Stark. I am your homeroom teacher unless you’re in the wrong room. I also teach AP Math and Computer Science. If you have questions at this point, I honestly wonder how you got this far in life, but I’m obligated to ask.”

The room was silent. 

“Great, do whatever until the bell rings, I guess.”

The class emptied out. 

Peter hung back, “M-Mr. Stark?”

“Yes, Proton.”

“I-it’s Peter, actually.”

“I was talking about your t-shirt.”

“I - Oh, yeah,” he looked down at the “I’m positive” joke print, “um… I just wanted to let you know that I have ADHD, mostly the AD part a-and I don’t expect any special treatment or anything and I’ll work really hard, but I also wanted to join Mathletes and I wasn’t allowed in junior high because I’d always get sidetracked at the meets but I think I can do better now if you’ll give me the chance… butifnotthat’sokay.”

Mr. Stark appraised him, “First meeting is in this room at three.”

“Thank you, sir!” he smiled, but when his teacher didn’t smile back, he fixed his face and walked to his next period.

“I’m Mr. Banner, and there are three things you need to remember if you want to succeed in biochemistry. One: If you’re unsure but proceed without asking for clarification first, I will be angry. Two: If you show up to the lab without completing the prior work assigned, I will be angry. Three: If you do not share work between your lab partners equally, I will be angry. Don’t make me angry.”

“Wanna be lab partners?” Shuri asked.

“Sure,” Peter squeaked and cleared his throat. 

“You’re not going to break a test tube on me, are you?”

He shook his head quickly. 

“You’re a lot of work, Peter Parker, but it’s kind of adorable.”

“Um… thanks?”

“You’re welcome. Now hand me that pipette and fire up the spectrophotometer.”

The last period before lunch was P.E.

“I’m Coach Barton, that’s all you need to know. Let’s do a few warm up laps around the circuit.”

Peter ran hard and was close to fainting as he crossed the line in the middle of the pack.

“Woah, kid, you need to go to the nurse’s?” Coach singled him out.

He tried to say ‘no’ but no sound would come out, so he just shook his head, gasping. He could hear the other boys snickering beyond the pounding of his blood in his brain.

“I think you need to go to the nurse’s,” Coach beckoned to the boy who’d crossed the line first, “Flash, take him to the clinic, would ya?”

“Yes, sir,” the bully from his homeroom smirked at him.

As soon as they were out of the gym, he jostled and picked at the smaller boy only to exhibit the epitome of sympathy in front of Nurse Man-Ti. 

“Here, drink some electrolytes,” she told him and he finished the small bottle in under a minute. 

As soon as Flash was gone, Peter let himself just cry. He wished his aunt would just homeschool him, but it’s been hard since his uncle died and in the face of that, Peter felt bad for feeling bad about his little problems and that made him cry some more.

“Hey,” the nurse sat beside him quietly, “Peter, right?”

He nodded, “I’m sorry.”

“What for? Better out than in, that’s what I always say.”

Peter sniffed.

“Do you want to talk about it? Or make an appointment with Counsellor Barnes?” 

“No, no, I’m fine. I just needed, uh… electrolytes,” he leaves quickly after that.

Peter goes to his locker for his bag and clothes, red eyes trained on the floor so that hopefully nobody notices. He doesn’t notice Shuri arguing with Flash, gesturing forcefully back at his locker. Flash sees him put in his combination and open the door, a cheshire grin spreading across his face. 

“Peter!” Shuri tries to warn him, “Don’t -”

But it’s too late and he’s covered in silly string, a few old socks found decomposing in the gym lockers, and the contents of a bathroom trash can. 

“I’m gonna go change,” he whispers to no one in particular.

“I’ll save you a place at lunch?” Shuri called after him.

Peter stops in his tracks to shoot her a grateful smile, “Thank you.”

Mr. Thor Odinson was a very loud history teacher, but it worked well for keeping Peter’s attention throughout the class, so he was able to answer all the review questions. 

“Teacher’s pet,” Flash scoffed at the sound of the bell.

“Dumbass,” Shuri fake-coughed and pulled Peter to the auditorium.

“I’m Mr. Loki Odinson, you may call me Mr. Loki to distinguish between myself and my hard-of-hearing brother, Thor,” said their quieter drama teacher, “Thompson, if you kick Parker’s chair one more time, I will send you to Fury’s office with no note, no explanation. And he has a very specific way of dealing with those cases.”

Flash stopped and sat straighter. 

“Good, Parker, you seem suitably nervous. Come up here and help me demonstrate a quick improvisation exercise.”

Peter tripped on his way down the aisle to the stage, but kept going. 

“Now, you’re a superhero and I’m a supervillain. You’re trying to turn me over to the good side, but we can only converse alphabetically. So you must start with the letter ‘A’, I must start with the letter ‘B’ and so forth. Are you ready?”

“No.”

“Ah, ah, first rule of improv: the answer is always, ‘Yes, and…’ Let’s go, Parker. You’re brave. You’re bold. You’re a hero.”

“Alright, Mr. Villain, you have two choices,” Peter surprised himself at how his voice carried. It must be the way the auditorium was built, “perish, or join our fight.”

“Blech, I choose to perish,” Mr. Loki dropped to his knees, “C’mon Hero, end me if you have the guts at all.”

“Come on, you know you never wanted to watch the city burn to begin with. The hive possessed you, used you. Now, you have the chance to redeem yourself.”

“Don’t presume to know me because you can’t possibly. You don’t know what I’ve been through. What I’ve lost!”

“Everything,” Peter said quietly, “Everyone you ever cared for. I do know… because so have I. We’re not so different.”

“Fighting the hive is a losing proposition. You have nothing that could work against them!”

“Gas. Even a million eyes are no good in a fog.”

“Huh… I never thought of that. I’ll join your fight, Hero if you’ll let me,” Mr. Loki proffered his “bound” wrists.

“I knew there was some good left in you, Mr. Villain,” Peter “unlocked” the “restraints.”

Mr. Loki mimed holding a knife to Peter’s neck, “Just not that much, I’m afraid. Hive Mother! I’ve got him! I’ve got the hero! Now release my family from the void as you promised!”

Peter wracked his brain from the next letter. The plot twist didn’t help him think either. “... Krap with a ‘k’?” 

Mr. Loki broke character and laughed before clapping and shaking his student’s hand, “That was the most interesting improv demonstration I’ve had in awhile, Parker. You’re a natural. Now everyone pair off and try to top that performance if you can!”

English with Mr. Rogers was the last period of the day. He didn’t look up from his book until everyone was seated, silent, and had their eyes up front. It took a crazy long time and a good deal of organization and yelling on Shuri’s part. 

“Sorry, guys, I was reading a book about anti-gravity. It's impossible to put down!” he joked.

Peter was the only one who laughed.

After giving a bit of a lecture on respect for their instructors, valuing their education, and how much they were going to love English this year, he let them go early. 

“Okay, I’m calling you three Alvin, Simon, and Theodore from now on,” Mr. Stark addressed his small Mathlete gathering, “Our new mascot is a chipmunk, I don’t care that all our other teams are Rocket Raccoons.” 

“Which one of us is Alvin?” Shuri asked.

“Since you asked, you are. Fancy-Pen is Simon and Proton is Theodore. Now, we have a competition to prepare for in… ages from now, so… drill, I guess? I don’t know. Who wants to do Euclidean algorithms?” 

Three hands went up. 

“Nice,” he brought out his expensive Japanese chalk, a gift from his wife, the well-known Fortune 500 CEO, Pepper Potts.

[rainydawgradioblog]

Rainy Dawg Radio’s Best of the 2010s!

ALBUMS

Palberta - Bye Bye Berta

Palberta is a band that somehow manages to scratch almost every musical itch I have. Nowhere else have I heard a band successfully hold three part harmonies over squeaky atonal guitar riffs and abstract drum thrashing. Although I wouldn’t categorize them as twee, noise rock, post-punk, indie pop, no-wave, or any other genre name for that matter, they distill everything I love from all these types of music and mush it into something beautifully stinky. In my eyes, their 2017 album Bye Bye Berta stands as the definitive statement of what Palberta’s all about. With 20 tracks clocking in at under half an hour, the album wastes no time on filler. Skronky punk riffs burst apart at the seams and a sweet little lo-fi love song comes out of the wreckage, only to be replaced by an abstract tape sample collage. The band also has an incomparable mastery over lyricism, as evidenced by such classics as Finish My Bread (Finish my finish my finish my bread, finish my finish my finish my bread, etc…) and Trick Ya (HEY! Don’t trick me, I’m gonna trick you! HEY! Don’t trick me, I’m gonna trick you!). Highlights include the endearingly ramshackle and stupid pretty “Honey, Baby” and their cover of “Stayin’ Alive” (Jenny’s eating burgers and everybody’s shakin’ and stayin’ alive!)

- Elliott Hansen

Alex G - DSU

Shit if you know me you know I live for that sad bastard indie music. That’s exactly what DSU does best. Probably my most played record of the 2010s, this album’s lo-fi indie rock overfloweth. The opener, After Ur Gone, is on the noisier side of the album’s spectrum along with the squealing guitar of Axesteel and Icehead (peep the scream vocals in his live performances), while songs like the instrumental Skipper exemplify why Frank Ocean tapped Alex for the Self Control riff on Blonde. The emotional core of the record, Sorry, gets right back to the Elliott Smith comparisons that we know and love: lyrics of trauma, drugs and apologies included. My favorite song is Harvey; it smacks me right in the younger brother emo spot, with “run my hands through his short black hair I say / ‘I love you Harvey I don’t care’”. While not as chaotic as House of Sugar, twangy as Rocket, or psychedelic as Beach Music, this record is Alex G comfort music at its finest.

- Max Bryla

Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma

Picture this: J Dilla, Madlib, and Aphex Twin all come together to create an album with little more than some old Coltrane records and an original Xbox at their disposal. The end result is like a trip through the universe. Yet the album comes from the mind of a single individual, who sits in the cockpit with a mischievous grin on his face: Steven Ellison, known professionally as Flying Lotus. The opening track, ‘Clock Catcher’, feels like Ellison slamming his foot onto the ignition so hard that it snaps out of place, shooting into the heavens at the speed of light before the listener can even strap in. Whirling through the stars, the rest of the album is the journey home from the expanse, often melancholic, often wondrous, always changing. From the punchy, off-kilter rhythms of tracks like ‘Nose Art’ and ‘Computer Face//Pure Being’ to the fat synth melodies of ‘Dance of the Pseudo Nymph’, ‘Recoiled’, and ‘Do The Astral Plane’, Flylo is always striking the listener from a different sonic vantage point. You can tell he’s having the time of his life with each of these songs, wanting to share every bit of it with our eardrums. After countless listens, I’m still finding new things about this album to appreciate. A complete masterpiece of cosmic epiphany fuel.

- Trey Marez

Ott. - Fairchildren

People throw so much music at me. And I remember this album was recommended to me back in high school, and I listened to it for the first time in zero-th period -- I think it was someone who went by the name “phryk” on IRC. And dang, it’s still such a good album! In what sense? It’s so well-mixed; that’s the first part. Secondly, it is just a wonderful listening experience from start to finish. If you need a good album of reggae, dub, electronic, here it is. One thing you shouldn’t do with this album: use it to test out speakers at Goodwill. The bass of this album was so good that I bought home a pair of speakers that turned out to be so bad.

- Koi Nil

Car Seat Headrest - Twin Fantasy

Bandcamp has been known for hosting some of our wildest dreams this decade, and when 2011 lobbed William Toledo’s first rendition of Twin Fantasy down my ears my life changed. Emotions are crushed to death in the back of parking lots, the lo-est of fi’s, and lyrics that trigger far and melancholy memories of the early 2010 zeitgeist swarmed with insecurity and Skype calls. The album is Toledo’s first cohesive piece, finally creating work with developed central themes, dedicating the first concept album of his life to falling in and consequently out of love. The album speaks as a mirror to itself, reflecting Will’s own joy and confusion towards falling conservatively and completely in love, until the sobering downward spiral back into isolation. I was only eleven when I let the album own me completely, and am only nineteen as I hold onto it for dear life. Twin Fantasy was never a perfect album, and Toledo recognized this as he re-released Twin Fantasy (Face to Face) in 2018, reinventing the album’s sound with a much higher fidelity, lyrical updates, and redone instrumentals that turn the original into an overture or prologue to be enjoyed separately for more context. Searing solos, cute doo-wop moments, sentimental lyrics, slap-happy drums, fish wearing business suits, dogs, coming out over Skype, smoking, not smoking, nice shoulders, waitresses, the Bible, the ghost of Mary Shelley’s frankenstein, cursive, they might be giant’s rip offs, not knowing SHIT about girls, stealing alcohol from our grandparents and grandparents, bruised shins, cults, fish, getting the spins, and being really really really sensitive to the sunlight. I’d fight for this album, listening to “Cute Thing” as I get RKO’d. Take the time to enjoy the ride, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. (It technically used to be a gay furry album, but now it’s techincally a straight trans furry album.)

- Cooper Houston

Sabaton - The Last Stand

Sabaton is every history teachers dream band. These Swedish power metallers educate the listener about the history of war by discussing various battles, conflicts, and figures. They do this through anthemic choruses, riffs that make your fist pump, and oddly enough synths that work surprisingly well. Since history interests me and I really like metal, Sabaton was pretty much made for me. This album will always have a soft spot in my heart and evoke fond memories as it was one of the first CDs I picked up after getting my license back in 2016. As I gained more independence and freedom as I approached adulthood, this was my soundtrack. This album lived in my CD player during this time as I listened to it over and over again, never once losing its replayability. Ranging from the American battalion that got lost in the Argonne Forest during WWI to Allied and Axis forces joining together to fight at the end of WWII, this album tells of various historical last stands. While this is certainly isn’t the best metal release of the decade, it’s still an extremely solid album. In this case, the sentimentality plays a larger role than anything. While it may not be found on any “Best Album of the Decade” lists, Sabaton’s The Last Stand will always hold a place in my heart and in my car’s CD player.

- Jack Irwin

CONCERTS

07/20/19: What the Heck? Fest @ Croatian Club, Anacortes, WA

Choosing a single favorite concert from the entire past decade seemed insurmountable until I decided to define it by the overall experience rather than exclusively the music. This past summer, I was lucky enough to be one out of barely over a hundred people at the first What the Heck? Fest in 8 years. The festival took place annually from 2001 to 2011, featuring PNW indie legends, K records icons, and all manner of dorky indie folk kids. WTH laid dormant until this past spring, when Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie) announced its return along with the revival of his long-dead initial moniker, the Microphones. I made the trip up from Seattle alone by train and bus, spent a little while wandering Anacortes (the Business was closed :( ) and made my way to the repurposed church which houses the Unknown and the Croatian Club. I ended up seated a few feet from Calvin Johnson in one direction and Kimya Dawson in another. I felt a little out of place at times, like a stranger in the middle of a 90s indie family reunion, but the atmosphere remained consistently welcoming. D+ opened the show, fronted by Bret Lunsford (formerly of Beat Happening), the founder and main organizer of WTH, and backed by Phil Elverum and Karl Blau, who played their own sets later in the night. K Records mainstays Lois and Mecca Normal were on next, delivering stripped down, socially-driven whisper punk/indie pop. Karl Blau led an outdoor sing-along and covered a Pounding Serfs song, who played the next set (their first in [a lot of?] years) for a total of two renditions of “Slightly Salted,” a song I could have listened to in every set that night. Phil hopped back onstage again alongside Lee Baggett to back Kyle Field from Little Wings, an indie-folk favorite of mine, with rambly half-nonsensical lyrics and plenty of soft strummed warm twangly guitars. Black Belt Eagle Scout delivered (comparatively) heavier sounds, coupling slow, soft sung melodies with fuzzed out shoegaze tones, building tension until the Microphones (Phil backed by Kyle, Karl, Lee and keyboardist Nicholas Krgovich) came out for the final set of the night. They opened with what I interpret as a 25-minute rendition of the then-unreleased Belief, which was later shortened to 7 and a half minutes as the opener to the new Mount Eerie record, Lost Wisdom pt. 2. Phil then played a handful of old Microphones tracks alone, including a version of The Glow pt. 2’s title track with reworked lyrics, as well as its closer, My Warm Blood, excerpts from the final Microphones album (confusingly titled Mount Eerie), and what I believe to be another unreleased song. I left with the most limited merch I’ve ever managed to snag: one of two Ziploc bags of lettuce with “the Microphones” and a small K records logo sharpied on the front. I felt bad eating my merch, but it sustained me through the cold Anacortes night as I wandered to and from poorly lit parks, killing time until my 4AM bus back to Seattle.

- Elliott Hansen

03/09/19: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Solo) @ Vermillion Gallery, Seattle WA

Was really not sure what to expect from this one going in, but CYHSY’s s/t from 2005 has always been one of my favorite records. I hadn’t ever been to Vermillion in Capitol Hill, but it was hosting CYHSY on a “living room tour”, where Alec Ournsworth (vox, guitar, harmonica[!]) hit tiny spaces around the country. Vermillion sat 40 at most, and I got to check out some cool local art in the space as well. Alec’s trademark voice that (according to p4k) sounds “as if someone were pressing his vocal cords to a fret board and bending them” which is pretty damn accurate. Amongst CYHSY’s greatest hits (In This Home On Ice and Cool Goddess in particular), he also covered Pixies and Tom Waits through lively and exciting banter. Great dude, great music, great venue. My favorite of the 2010’s for sure.

- Max Bryla

11/14/18: Milo @ Vera Project, Seattle, WA

Milo, and the ruby yacht house band are poetic alchemists that constantly dish out hefty servings of succulent syllables with each new release. Kenny Segal who does the beats for a few of Milo’s songs (and other hip hop artists) opened by transporting the crowd into the ethereal realm with a few classics from his album: happy little trees. Once Kenny Segal finished, Milo accompanied by the ruby yacht house band jumped on stage. I was close enough that I could make out Milo’s squirtle tattoo on his bicep and waited for his vivid and veracious vocabulary to leave me in a state of decapitation. Crispy, potato chip like static (a Milo-live signature) was consumed ferociously by the crowd as he hit us with one banger after another. About halfway through the set Milo dropped the mic and went off stage into the back room. The ruby yacht house band was left Milo-less; their beat lingering in the air, festering with each hit of the snare. Milo returned a while later, wielding a pair of tap dancing shoes in one hand and a ukulele in the other. He put on the tap dancing shoes on stage, everyone in the audience screaming with his return. Donned with the tap dancing shoes and positioning his ukulele on his chest; he began to dance. Holy shit he was good too. Strumming the uke and tap dancing away I was utterly mesmerized. My eyes glued to his performance. Suddenly, as if stricken by some divine intervention, Milo seized the ukulele by the neck and smashed it against the ground, splintering into a thousand pieces. After his destructive fit, he picked the microphone back up and whispered into it emotionlessly: “Think about that”. I did. The whole experience was transcendental and instantly triumphed as my greatest concert of the decade. You KNOW I snagged a sliver of uke on my way out.

- Rocky Schaefer

08/07/17: Metallica @ CenturyLink Field, Seattle, WA

While Metallica has had its ups and downs throughout their career, they do one thing well, and that is putting on a damn good live show. Metallica built the best line-up I have ever seen, given the popularity of the bands they chose. With them they took Avenged Sevenfold, who I greatly dislike but are still a huge band, and Gojira, one of the best modern death metal bands on the scene. The sheer size of this concert was absolutely and extremely inspiring as Metallica was able to fill up CenturyLink Field, a venue usually reserved for pop artists who draw in thousands of attendees. The amount of people that attended signaled to me that metal is far from dead. While this tour was in support of their newest album Hardwired to Self Destruct, Metallica made sure to incorporate classics into their setlist including “Seek and Destroy,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and “Battery.” James, Robert, Kirk, and Lars delivered a killer concert will tight playing and outstanding individual performances. Being able to see my music hero, James Hetfield, play live was truly a special experience. The one thing that stood out during the performance were the visuals. Each song had a unique and individual video effect on the large screens behind the band which made each song special and memorable it its own way. While I wasn’t close to the stage by any means, the crowd interaction created a unique experience that made me feel much closer than I really was. This concert wasn’t just a concert, but also a life-changing experience. Seeing the band that truly got me into metal, the thing that I rest my individuality on, is something that defined the decade for me and will live with me forever.

- Jack Irwin

SONGS

“You Are Here” - Yo La Tengo

This one I don't think I can fully explain. By miles, this is my most played song of all time. It is the opener of Yo La Tengo’s 15th album, There’s A Riot Going On. The album, and song, starts with the meditative synth line that builds into a pulsing rhythm over the course of the first minute. The rhythm maintains through the rest of the song, as casual guitar strumming is added and another synth that doesn’t sound all that dissimilar to Jonny Greenwood’s Ondes Martenot. My favorite part of the song, though, are the drum fills of the latter half: they crash and roll like the ocean. With or without the title of the song, the audio conveys a degree of presentness and contentedness that I haven’t been able to find elsewhere quite yet. I’d recommend it.

[vapormaison]

2019 Best Vinyl Pressing 1/4: 魂のための歌 by 憂鬱

Preface: Throughout the month of December, Vapor Maison will be nominating  “BEST OF” albums of 2019. Slots will remain open for this month’s releases. Categories include Best Vaporwave Release, Best Future Funk Release, Best Re-Release (V & FF), and Best City Pop Re-Release, among others. This is one nominee for best Vinyl Press.

Author’s Note: For the writer’s ease of writing and readers ease of reading, I’ll be using the transliteration of 憂鬱:Yūutsu, and the translation of “Soul’s Song” in lieu of “魂のための歌”. I’ll maintain the Japanese track listings for easy reference. Apologies to Purity, a maiden as tedious as she is cruel.

Are the merits of a vaporwave album on vinyl even worth reviewing?

 Obviously, you’re reading a vaporwave vinyl review — creating a sort of circuit — so in the strictest sense of the word, yes, — but naturally, a follow up question must be asked by any smart music consumer. If so much of vaporwave, and by extension future funk, is centered around digital manipulation of either computer programs (vocaloid, electronic loops, midis, drum kits, etc), and pre-existing digital rips of j-pop (by definition most of future funk) — what’s the point of a vinyl press? Pressing mp3s onto vinyl is pointless — as no amount of “warmth” from a vinyl-based Hi-Fi system will ever make up for a low-quality source. What’s more, the indie releases of these tracks can make it hard to justify an expensive vinyl mastering session. In my most unfortunate purchases, I’ve had MP3s outperform certain 45s.

But sometimes, you can get just the right format, just the right mix and master, and it just makes your hifi set sing. You, as a Vaporwave/Future Funk/Chillwave/etc. enthusiast, can certainly approach the sonic repro quality of lore — that Platonic form of an “audiophile’s album”. How can I prove this? Look no further than Soul’s Song by Yuutsu. Point blank, full stop. This is the one of the rare vapor records for a true audiophile. In this next section, I’ll be giving my thoughts on the album’s tracklist. In Part 2, you can join me for a trip into Hi-Fi World for a discussion of Vapor-Vinyl’s legitimacy.

PART 1: THE MUSIC

小さい鳥 opens the album with a moody, synthetic mandolin-like twang and elegiac Vocaloid vacillations extended in a sort of melancholic embrace that brings you — willing or otherwise, into the arms of this project. The arrangement of the loops are of particular note here, with the layering of additional sonic flutters that culminate in an anti-climactic crescendo that leaves you as sad and disappointed as the album no doubt wants you to feel.

それは愛を返さありません ends up being the most “atmospheric” of all the tracks, a listening experience I’d describe as a fitting background track for a KEY visual novel — eerie, haunting monosyllabic Vocaloid chants of comprising the long, long hooks. While running at 5:24, it definitely feels longer — perhaps created by a symphonic discord between vocals and music at intermittent portions of the piece. I’d characterize this piece as the most experimental of the album, deftly playing with my expectations more than any of the others.

闇 is incredible — and without a doubt the highlight of the tape. Because it departs from the simple string looping and gives us something more — something resembling a tragic and contemplative harmony, however discordant, and one that builds into lyrically what I consider to be a genuine contemplation of spirituality and the other world — a natural place, topically, for an album titled “Soul’s Song”. A sort of hollow computerized synth also left me considering — was this song about the soul of the Vocaloid program itself?

The digitized horns, eerie synths, and what I could best classify as the crackling of amplifiers introduce the thirty-eight second interlude of 変更 and serve as the riser to the climactic shift of the EP beginning in おやすみ. This four-minute piece deftly blends electric and analog strings and brings the vocaloid program to its emotional and sonic heights, really making the high-end pop in a for a surprisingly refreshing experience.

We conclude the album with a hybrid piece ネコチャン which captures the electric energy of おやすみ, the distorted samples of 変更 and adds a fleeting feeling of warmth with that familiar sound of tennis shoes on a waxed gym floor, evoking nostalgia that never was of doldrum days in a Japanese high school. The album fades out, with our familiar vocaloid’s calling out of Neko-chan, melting away like memories.

PART 2: THE VINYL LISTENING EXPERIENCE

When re-starting this review blog in earnest over the past month or so, I made a point to get my best gear serviced. I couldn’t claim to be fulfilling my broadened duties without having a fully-serviced, properly functioning kit. One of the more essential and dreaded refurbishments was getting my KEFs over to the local stereo shop wizard for a re-foam. I’d be without my workhorses for a week: an audiophile Alexander without his binaural Bucephalus. In the meanwhile, my backup speakers — a pair of Cambridge Audio SX-50 bookshelf speakers that I use as computer monitors, stepped up to the plate as pinch hitter.

I provide this anecdote for a reason: the very afternoon I dropped my KEF’s off at the shop is also the afternoon I received my copy of Soul’s Song by Yūutsu.

Admittedly, I can’t say I was particularly hyped for this release, or very eager tor receive it in the post. The previous evening I had been sleeplessly experimenting on a DJ set of city pop for the journal’s launch party at my alma mater. I was decidedly on an upbeat, caffeine-fueled kick of positive thoughts and big dick energy. Success had triggered the dopamine receptors, and the idea of sitting down for a serious listening session of an album that many BandCamp users had dubbed as “peak sadwave” seemed like an unnecessary vibe check.

But— being a self-appointed music blogger— a craft which I imagine has real pretensions about it somewhere, I buckled —a serious listening session was attempted.

And I was utterly blown away.

***

A final word on gear. The Cambridge SX-50s — and Cambridge Audio in general— do have a bit of a cult-following among guitar enthusiasts in various audiophile spheres. I also am familiar with a listening bar in Nagoya (where I studied abroad for a semester) that uses top-shelf Cambridge Hi-Fi gear solely for Vocaloid listening sessions!

Suffice to say, I was not actively thinking about either of those two facts when I first let the needle drop, but when the twangy synthetic guitar loop and the eerie vocalic chants of それは愛を返さありません began, a sudden wave of melancholy set in and brought my mind back to a lonely winter spent in that basement bar after breaking up with my girlfriend. And to the Cambridges. At that time, I became intimately familiar with how an upbeat, poppy — sometimes even jazzy track— accompanied with Vocaloid vocals could really make those speakers sing. And it was happening right now, as I was cuddled by the warmth pouring from those drivers in spite of the cold sadness of the arrangement. That dichotomy was on full display as “Ya-aa-mi” invocations of 闇 reached its penultimate hook.

In may respects, these Cambridges were and still are petty. I had previous experience with them butchering a poor quality vinyl of the Luxury Elite/Saint Pepsi Late Night Delight EP two years ago. My KEF’s usually take it upon themselves to run cover for a bad release. Cambridge-chan couldn’t be bothered. On a bad day, with a bad play, they’ll seem like the most clinical JBL studio monitor — but here they were, absolutely singing. This album was making them slap — metaphorically. And that’s when I realized what a magical press this was.

Five days later, the KEFs were securely hooked up to my amp again. The first vinyl to be put through the paces was, of course, Soul’s Song. Again I was impressed. The exquisite layering of this album can’t be expressed enough — and while the SX-50s brought out the synthetic string and vocals to the fore, my 104s filled in the rest of the sonic picture. I felt as if I was being re-acquainted with a piece of sculpture upon viewing it from a different angle, or witnessing a church’s mosaic in person after seeing a small reproduction in a well-printed textbook. This is a pressing far and above the previous standards I’ve set for vaporwave.

***

As any Vapor Vinyl review would be incomplete without a brief take on the overallＡｅｓｔｈｅｔｉｃ of the release, so I’ll just start by saying that I really enjoy the three-tone front end. The lavender, beige and white undeniably make this a very “Aloe” release, who tend to make things easy on my very nearsighted eyes by never making the cover too busy. This is perhaps with the notable exception of VR 97’s recent cassette release — not a trend, I hope!

I do have to admit I’m getting a bit tired of pink vinyls, though — and Soul’s Song unfortunately now joins a very crowded pack. I suppose if you were being pedantic, you could compare the “pinkness” of the album vis a vis the 2nd pressing of Macros 82-99’s Sailorwave (fuller, more saturated), or even the “bubblegum” first pressing of Vektroid’s Floral Shoppe (just naming two iconic releases) — but I think this release would have been fine (and moved units) as, say, a picture disc — making use of the powerful, emotive cover art to its fullest extent. In short, it takes something unique and then commodifies it to the point of exhaustion. While I suppose this criticism could be leveled at all of the genres I cover— I think generally speaking Vaporwave and Future Funk (to a lesser extent) treads this line of “capitalist critique” and “modified consumption” rather adeptly.

The main thrust in the previous paragraph, I should qualify, is not a specific criticism of Aloe City Records, however — I think they’ve done a fine job generally. If I could make a list of three releases that justify a special edition vinyl — this is certainly one.

For audiophile vaporwave/chill-wave fans, I’d encourage you to snap it up while you can.  You can even buy it ethically — it’s still in stock on Aloe City’s band-camp page. It’s in my mind — without doubt — one of the best presses of the year.

[b0ne-marrow]

Valorverse - Royal Guard

I said I'd post this in the morning but got busy and I dont' feel like waiting til next morning so here you go, lol. I guess I'll renotify everyone in the morning. Right off the bat I apologize for this being/looking so sloppy. I wasn't expecting to end up drawing the characters and started out drawing a mannequin. the line out color as well as ome aspects of the designs are bad afdjksal;fjdskla;j So, I mentioned in my Valorverse writing about Twilight that she was kinda forced to get a royal guard with the increasing tensions between creatures and Equestria. https://www.deviantart.com/musical-medic/journal/Valorverse-Philia-Prinkipissa-785744261 I then realized that I'd probably need to design said armor, lol. You can look at my first attempt here: https://www.deviantart.com/musical-medic/art/Valorverse-Twilight-Sparkle-Armor-Concept-Art-1-0-793342688 Not much is different besides the fact I decided to make the armor Asymmetrical when it came to the Mane 6's cutie marks in that one. lol.  Here's the second one: I basically used these as the line art for this drawing: https://www.deviantart.com/musical-medic/art/Valorverse-Twilight-Sparkle-Armor-Concept-Art-793211093 In this one you can see bsaically what the full armor looks like. The left wing has fluttershy's CM and the right has Rainbow's,  The left side of the chest piece has Applejack's CM and the right has Pinkie's,. The "Front" side of the horn piece has twilights, and the back has Rarity's (except it's just a single diamond)  Anyway, here we have our first two official Guards excluding Tempest.  Tempest, when she was volunteered to start the guard and be the leader, offered to let Twilight have a say in designing the armor it's self to try to warm her up to the idea a bit. Tempest handled the technicalities ( "sorry twi you can't put that on because that creates a huge weak spot" "Do you WANT the enemy to drag us down, or worse yet, a dumb recruit step on ribbon and faceplant himself? That's what happens when you put frilly ribbon on the armor") while Twilight tried to hone in Rarity's design prowess.  Even though it ha d been quite a while since she had seen them, she wanted to incorperate something each and every one of them had. She started with the cutie marks. Applejack and Pinkie's were added to the chest plate as a symbol of strength. Specifically, Earth pony strength. She added Fluttershy's and Rainbow's to symbolize Protetction (of thier wings) as well as Pegasus strength, and added Rarity's to symbolize Unicorn strength and magical prowess. She only begrudgingly added hers because Tempest wanted her to. This is the case for all the references to Twi in the armor. They also of course symbolize their Elements.  The color of the armor is the same as the necklaces/Crown that hold the Elements (not technically, but I use different colors for them in this AU), and the headpiece's hair color incorperates the colors from the friendship keys/rainbow power. (I don't know how to explain in in the verse yet, remember when their eyes would shine and then they got a gift that ended up being a key to open the Chest of Harmony and then they had rainbow powers? afjdklas;jf) Tempest helped her as much as she could. She got REAL sick of Twi's perfectionism though, lol. It got to the point where she basically told Twi that THIS was the final design. However, to her dismay, the "Final" design went through about 6 more reiterations.  But, finally, the armor was made, and Tempest sent out official flyers and papers to join Twilight's guard. Star Tracker's idolation of Twilight never really went away, so when he heard that she was getting a guard and that they were looking for members, he immedietely applied despite not having any training. He was the first official trainee for the guard.  Flash Sentry joined soon after, reccomended by Cadence and Shining Armor themselves.  I'll be writing something for this here soon and will link it when I finish it here, lol. .  Please enjoy! If you like my work, please consider supporting me on Patreon and following me on the other websites I'm on! You can find them all here: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Musicalmedic DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/musical-medic Instagram: @ musical_mediic or https://www.instagram.com/musical_mediic/ Furaffinity: https://furaffinity.net/user/musicalmedic/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Musical_mediic Tumblr: https://Musical-mediic.tumblr.com   Posted using PostyBirb