#folks of focal point

[theloniousbach]

THE FOLKS OF FOCAL POINT: RANDY FURRER OF JAKE’S LEG

Since 2010, Jake’s Leg, one of the longest running Grateful Dead cover bands in the world, began playing an annual gig at the Focal Point Traditional Arts Center.

Huh?

These are acoustic shows, just as the Dead themselves did in 1970 and 1980, but still, folk and roots music?

Hear me out, but I think so.

Randy Furrer, with fellow guitarist Dave Caspar a founding member of the band, points out, “These are great songs. There about something deep, sometimes even mystical. They aren’t pop songs.” Indeed, the Focal Point stage has heard “Black Muddy River” from no less than Norma Waterson who found it on an unmarked cassette and then recorded it with Martin Carthy and their daughter Eliza Carthy.

The Grateful Dead drew on Focal Point music—bluegrass, blues, traditional folk songs—as well as rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock’n’roll to make their own varied contributions to music. In December, Jake’s Leg was joined by Gerard Eckert of the Mighty Pines for Peter Rowan’s bluegrass song, “Panama Red.” It worked, of course.

With Jerry Garcia’s death in 1995 and the forthcoming end of touring by Dead and Company which includes three surviving members, their songs continue to fill the air as new generations of musicians take them on and make them their own. It’s the folk process; they have become part of the broad repertoire as blues tunes, fiddle tunes, Woody Guthrie songs, border ballads have.

Jake’s Leg though was one of the first, getting started in 1976, just a year after Focal Point itself. And over the years, they’ve developed a book of 300-400 songs, honed over more than 7,000 shows. “Dave says it’s 8,000, but I’d say 7,200,” says Furrer. “It’s never the same way twice, that’s what we took from them.”

Such improvisation requires fine coordination, most of it on stage. “We practice when we have a new member,” but they changed drummers 17 years ago when Ryan Wilhite joined. But keyboardist Bill Noltkamper has been ill for a couple of years, so they have some talented substitutes. “So we get together and break them in before the shows.”

The band lost 76 gigs due to the Covid lockdown, but a streaming gig via Focal Point kept them connected.

A testimony to this material is that their audience continues to grow and regenerate itself.

Our conversation happened at a bar and our server admired my Grateful Dead cap. I thanked her but said that Randy played in a GD cover band. She had heard of Jake’s Leg. Of course. She wouldn’t let me pay for our drinks or rent on the corner of the bar we occupied for an hour. That Randy comped her into an upcoming show was payment enough.

[miley1442111]

dinner revelations and reactions- r.cameron (part 3)

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a/n: this takes place in a au where the stuff that happens in the show doesn't happen :)

tropes: childhood bestfriends to lovers, enemies to lovers

pairing: rafe cameron x fem! reader, jj maybank x reader (dw, not for long)

(use of Y/n, and the nickname Bunny/ bun (but i promise not in a weird way there's a story to it i swear it's not just one of those weird smut things))

summary: rafe and you finally confront each other and it doesn't end as planned, neither does you night...

warnings: mentions of drugs and drug use and drinking, fighting, cursing, rafe is a dick, rafe's mental health, reader is going through it, smut (18+)(fade to black a little bit??) , kissing, alcohol, having sex while being drunk (?), drinking, kind of alcohol abuse, mentions of dead parents and sibling, rafe being jealous, rafe is also going through it (and I think that's it?)

not entirely proofread

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Rafe sat across from you, and you felt his eyes on you the whole time. He had no right to be affecting you like this, making you nervous, making you irritated, worst of all, making you feel anything. 

“So, Bunny,” Ward started. “How are your folks? I haven’t heard from them in a while.”

You felt your throat close, and an uncontrollable coughing fit started. Sarah hit your back and it finally stopped, but you excused yourself for a moment, not knowing what to do. You walked to the kitchen, a glass of water in hand, different to the strawberry daiquiri on the table, the one that Rose had insisted on making you. You felt yourself tear up as you thought about your lonely life. The past 3 had been the worst of your life. Coming home to an empty house, having to clean out their bedroom and everything else they owned, having no choice in how they went. A lot of your college friends ditched you at that time too, you didn't tell them what happened and you stopped coming out with them, so you drifted. It was so fucking hard. And explaining it would be difficult too. 

You hadn’t even noticed you’d started crying until Rafe had put his arms around you. 

And then there was the Rafe heartbreak. Your best friend and first love drifting away mere months after you moved to a whole new place, full of new people, and new ways to live. It was unfunny how upset you’d been, not leaving your room (except for going to school or for mealtimes), you almost broke your phone, you were so upset, and you got rid of anything (aside from the friendship bracelet you still wore) that reminded you of him. 

But for just a millisecond, you allowed yourself to enjoy him being there for you. 

Despite promising yourself that you’d never speak to him again when you turned 16 and he hadn’t replied in months, when big life events happened, you’d texted him. You’d texted him when your parents died, when you graduated with honours, when you got accepted into your dream college, and every single time, it always said that he read your messages. He knew what was going on, he knew you needed him, and he did nothing. 

You pushed him off of you and sighed. “Don’t try to comfort me now. That’s not fair,” you whispered, trying to stop yourself from crying. 

“Bun, please I’m-” he started, trying to take your hand, trying to make you look at him. To see the distress he was in, to notice the effect you had on him, to know that he still cared about you. 

“No!” you groaned, crossing your arms and moving further away from him. Thank god they had a huge kitchen. Rafe was always the focal point in every room, he drew attention in from everyone. His charisma, his smile, his looks, everything. Every time you entered a room he was in you were engulfed by Rafe, and it wasn’t fair. “Rafe, I don’t want your pity!-”

“It’s not pity-”

“Well I don’t want your help!” You finally stopped crying, the sadness easing but all that was left in its wake was rage. “I needed you, when I was a scared 15 year old girl in a new city, on the other side of  the country, I needed you when my brother died, I needed you when my parents died, I needed you when I was scared to move to college, I needed you when my first boyfriend and I broke up, and you weren’t there Rafe. But just because I needed you then, does not mean I need you now. You are exactly what is wrong with everyone on this island. You’re a prejudiced, privileged, piece of shit, asshole, drunk, with too much time and money on his hands. Get a job, work for something, for anything.” 

Rafe just stood there in shock. You pushed past him, rejoining the table.

“Sorry about that,” you chuckled. “My parents…” You paused and took a deep breath. “They died three years ago, sorry I didn’t call to let you know.” 

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Rafe sat across from you, and he had no idea what he was going to do. 

“So, Bunny,” Ward started and he rolled his eyes. Bunny had been a nickname Rafe had given you, and it had always bothered him when his dad used it, or when Rose used it, or when basically anyone but him used it . “How are your folks? I haven’t heard from them in a while.”

Rafe watched as your coughing fit began and he knew why. A sense of dread settled itself deep in his stomach and he sighed when you left to get a glass of water. He started getting up, then turned to Rose. “She doesn’t fucking like strawberry darquiri’s,” he spat.

He walked into the kitchen as quietly as possible, seeing how you sobbed with a hand over your mouth over the sink. He couldn’t help but feel partly responsible, and he hated seeing you cry. He felt you stiffen and quiet when he pulled his arms around you, then he held you closer as you started crying more. He’d missed you so damn much. He knew he should’ve responded, even after all these years, even when he fucking yearned to talk to you. But he’d made his bed and he had to lie in it. 

Losing you was one of the hardest things he’d ever gone through, and it wasn’t like his mom, where he could blame external forces, he was stuck with knowing that you being gone was his doing. That he’d driven you away at the ripe old age of 14. He loved you, and you’d left, but he just couldn’t see a universe where someone as lovely as you wanted him to stay, so he left. And he was stupid for leaving, and even worse for not apologising, but he was never known to go back on his word. As he held you, he thought about all the time his dad had said something, had hit him, and he thought about the fact that he could’ve talked to you. He could’ve called and asked for your advice, he could’ve heard your voice.  

And he noticed how your hands stayed on his body, not pushing him away, and he smiled. 

He felt awful for his behaviour. He should’ve been there for you when your brother and when your parents died. He knew he should’ve driven to fucking California and held you at the funeral. Let you cry on his shoulder. He should’ve been sending you supportive texts as you entered college, he should’ve been facetiming you asking about courses and classes, he should’ve been there to tell you that your asshole boyfriend wasn’t the shit. He remembered how he’d gone on a two-day bender when you texted him to say you had a boyfriend. He’d never been so jealous, and he hadn’t seen you in years. But he knew, he knew your spirit and he knew how beautiful you’d grown up to be. He knew your personality and your smile. It wasn’t fair what he did, but he knew this wasn’t about him. So, he just enjoyed being wanted by you, even if it was just for a few minutes. He didn’t deserve you in any capacity, but you still stood in the kitchen, his arms around you as you cried. 

You pushed him off of you and sighed. “Don’t try to comfort me now. That’s not fair,” you whispered. And the moment was over, but Rafe still had to try. 

“Bun, please I’m-” he started, trying to take your hand. He needed you to see him. He needed you to look at him, and look at the desperation in his eyes. He needed to explain that he hadn’t felt alive since you’d been gone, and having you here, being able to hold you? It had brought him back to life. 

“No!” you groaned, crossing your arms and moving further away from him. Fuck this huge kitchen, he wanted you closer to him, but he knew not to overstep. He stood at the sink and you paced slowly. Rafe was being driven out of his mind with these mixed signals. This wasn’t fair. “Rafe, I don’t want your pity!-”

“It’s not pity-” He tried to reason, his anger bubbling, but he took a deep breath to try and settle it. 

“Well I don’t want your help!” You finally stopped crying, the sadness easing but all that was left in its wake was rage. “I needed you, when I was a scared 15 year old girl in a new city, on the other side of  the country, I needed you when my brother died, I needed you when my parents died, I needed you when I was scared to move to college, I needed you when my first boyfriend and I broke up, and you weren’t there Rafe. But just because I needed you then, does not mean I need you now. You are exactly what is wrong with everyone on this island. You’re a prejudiced, privileged, piece of shitty, drunk, with too much time and money on his hands. Get a job, work for something, for anything.” 

Rafe just stood there in shock. You pushed past him, rejoining the table. He felt sick. No one had ever called him out like that, you had never spoken to him like that. He stood in the kitchen, and for the first time in years, he cried. He felt a genuine tear fall down his face and he knew he was fucked. 

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You showed up outside John B’s place, wanting to find Jj. None of it made any sense, it never had. Rafe, your parents, your brother, everything. 

“Hey Y/n,” He smiled, opening the door. You pushed past him inside and to his bedroom. “Everything ok?” He asked, following you.

“Do you have something strong?” You asked and he smirked. 

“Yeah,” he reached behind you to a cabinet and produced a bottle of Polmos Spirytus Rektyfikowany Vodka. 

“What’s that?” You asked, looking over to Polish bottle. 

“95% abv,” he smirked. “Strongest out there.”

You uncapped it and took a large swig. Jj chuckled when you had no reaction. 

“Good,” he smirked, then took the bottle off of you and drank some himself. 

The night went on through a haze of alcohol, laughter, and a weird energy in the air, something you couldn’t exactly put your finger on. 

“You tired?” He asked, a smile on his face. 

You didn’t answer, just pressing your lips to his. His hands grabbed your waist as you pulled him down on top of you. You needed to forget, to be distracted for a few hours, for one night to not be inside your own mind. Jj could serve that purpose, and maybe more. You just knew you needed to stop thinking.

“A-are you sure?” He asked, pulling away for a beat as you pulled his shirt off. 

“So sure,” you nodded and kissed him again. He smirked as you desperately pulled at his hair. 

He pulled down your trousers and pants in one fluid motion and he groaned. “You’re fucking gorgeous. All of you.”

He smashed his lips onto yours once again. Next his pants were down and he wax putting a condom on, then he was inside you and fuck. He was big. 

“Jj!” you whined as he sunk into you. His forehead was already laced with sweat. 

“Yeah baby?’ he gritted out, using all of his self-control to give you a minute to adjust. 

“So big,” you groaned. 

“You can take it,” he grunted as he started to move. You were so wet, so tight, so perfect. He couldn’t get you out of his head, and this was a lot better than what he was imagining. 

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You weren’t sure what time it was when you fell asleep, but you were fucking exhausted. You fell asleep with his arms around you, and you woke up the same way, with your head pounding and the uncontrollable urge to vomit.

What had you done?

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obx masterlist :)

navigation for my blog :) (criminal minds, obx, the bear, marvel, top gun, the hunger games, challengers :)

taglist: (comment to be added :))

@hockeybabe87 @maybankslover @anightlikethisss @linaaaaa654 @ijustwanttoreadlols @ihe4rttwd @sunny1616 @wearemadeofstardust0 @rafeecameronsbitch @drewswifeeee @lovegeorgia @houseofperfecttaste @ymnizuh

[emergingghost]

"I had the pleasure of designing and illustrating the long sleeve for @julienrbaker’s merch capsule by @slowdowndrygoods for her current tour. This work was really special to me and I have some words about it if you’d care to continue reading As soon as Eli asked if I wanted to make something I knew I wanted it to have a nostalgic warmth. The whole project involving Memphis folks is already so special, I wanted to contribute to that in the most authentic way possible. We had the idea to run with a candle as the main focal point. I love illustrating rooms, furniture, and domestic scenes of all kinds (as I have emphasized ad nauseam through my tattoo work) The life and memories held within four walls can feel electric and evoke such varying emotions from person to person. Drawing particular spaces from memory, I find, adds a surreal and dreamlike quality that transforms it from specific to personal, reflecting and highlighting elements of a room that have stuck with me over the year, moving through and away from them. It is all at once vulnerable, specific, vague, and inviting. This space is inspired by The Seven House back in Memphis where I’d seen so many shows, seen Julien perform with The Star Killers and Forrister, and so many other keystones in the scene at that time. I included a bunch of other stuff that’s not so specific to The Seven House but to Julien herself. So, that said, there’s a lot of memories crammed into this room that I hold in my heart and now you can carry it with you too A few things I snuck in here include a painting by @arielwolfebaldwin, a smith7 sticker, Julien’s beloved Beans, a Dunkin’ Donuts cup, a picture of the Memphis College of Art building, and more. I don’t usually sign my drawings but I sort of put myself in here, in a more pictorial / literal sense. I also fully remember the 7 house having a busted standee of a basketball player? Can anyone confirm this? Anyway, now you know what your merch means. Thanks again for asking me to be a part of this, Eli. And thanks to Julien for always carrying your friends with you. Much love Layout and formatting for print by @mrdrewryan Thanks @smith7_wicker for all the memories" - via tattoosbyclover

[hatesaltrat]

Folks, I’d like to tell you about this amazing place I got to spend some time at last weekend called Warriors2US. I am just flattered to no end that I was invited to be there and I can’t wait to go back. It is privately funded, no tax money or grants of any kind are used. If you can, please donate to them.

There is an incredible lodge that sleeps up to 18. A well stocked kitchen has everything you need to cook a fine meal with whatever groceries you bring and there’s no lack of spices and condiments if you forgot a little something. There is a total of 4 bedrooms, 1 of which is completely ADA compliant and the other 3 are upstairs with bunk beds.

From the seats on the back deck you can see the fire pit and shooting range beyond. There’s plenty of firewood to fuel a focal point while sipping libations and telling tales. It sits on 200 acres of private forest with hunting, fishing, and hiking just waiting for all Military personnel, Veterans, and/or First Responders. There is no cost to the guests.

There’s a fine grill downstairs in the garage just waiting to be used. Near the grill is a freezer full of meat that has been donated to the cause. There are some interesting games available for use too.

With more donations they are planning to build another structure so they can relocate the screen print shop from the small shed to its own space near some open office space where there will be classes for everything from CHL’s to resume building, and advisory seminars for Veterans trying to adjust to civilian life and job seeking skills. I am going to be trying to do some fund raising for them while seeking out some volunteer VA advocates. There’s a few of us planning a trip or 2 next year to donate some time helping to build a chapel in the woods and a few other various projects they need help with. We will eventually be building a wood shop complete with a mini-mill. I haven’t felt this passionately about a cause in a long time. I will be shamelessly plugging this retreat often and doing what I can to contribute to them.

Please check out the link and if you’re a Vet who wants to spend some time with family or a group of Warriors reach out to them directly to schedule some time out there.

And as always-

REMEMBER EVERYONE DEPLOYED

🇺🇸

[chevelleneech]

An unnecessary, yet slightly serious post about Wade being horny.

Wade was so horny for men in Deadpool & Wolverine, that after a third watch, I do not see where anyone is getting the idea that he’s dude-bro coded.

The first movie, I could see it, and it’s mainly because his visible discomfort with being pegged put a sort of buffer over any and all gay jokes Wade makes. Not all queer men like being penetrated, and I would assume Wade doesn’t like it in the comics either, but due to his pansexuality being so thinly alluded to in the first one, I can see why the takeaway would be “He’s a funny yet gross guy who likes making sex jokes no matter what it implies about his own sexuality.”

However, in the sequel, it is shown Wade is attracted to Colossus like three times. He grabs his ass twice, Vanessa (in his subconscious) tells him not to fuck him, and he mimes “scissoring” to him — although in the an extended deleted scene, he also mimes “sword fighting”.

In this third movie though, Wade is kind of like, very much so horny for multiple men.

He assumes the TVA agents are male strippers and says he will be kissing them. He moans, groans, and ogles Cavillerine before calling him, “the full package”. He then damn near creams himself over who he assumes to be Steve Rogers, and physically wraps his arms around him unprovoked. Another near-orgasmic moment for him was when Logan tells him to shut the fuck up. After that, he repeatedly calls Gambit attractive, and lastly, Wade is literally in the process of dying for what he thinks is the final time, and still he ogles a sweaty man.

So even without the Honda Oddessy fight… Wade’s only exhibits of sexual desire were for men. He wanted Vanessa back, and he’s obviously attracted to her, but that wasn’t the focal point of this movie regarding their relationship this time around. He wanted her back on an emotional level more than anything else, and while I’m very well aware Disney is never going to actually buckle down on a version of Wade whom is expressly queer, I do think anyone who left this movie with the opinion that Wade Wilson only likes women for real, were not paying an ounce of attention.

There’s only so many times a man can call other men attractive, salivate over their bodies, and literally tells folks he’s not a natural bottom (a term not at all used in reference to cis het sex) or that he wants to kiss men, and have it not be because he’s into men. Wade is definitely into men in the movies as of this movie, it’s just also a fact that such truth will never be explicitly said on screen.

Sure, Ryan said Wade is fluid and has chemistry with everyone, but that’s really just a great cop-out answer. He’s not lying, but he’s also not being upfront. Because Wade isn’t somewhat fluid and easy to have chemistry with. He’s queer. Pansexual to be exact, and I think at the very least the movies should be allowed to say that. He doesn’t have to kiss a man or date one for that to be true.

[evilminji]

I just realized something REALLY obvious?

That frankly? Should have occurred to me sooner.

The Star Wars Chosen One Prophecy!

.......name your local prophecies for me real quick. Closest religious order. Heck, YOUR religious order. Any of um.

How many do you KNOW? Remember the EXACT wording of? Even the "no really guys, this is SUPER IMPORTANT" Types. I don't no any. Most folks don't! At best? You Remember the general jist of it. Cliff notes. Not those tricky, damning, details... like the Exact Wording.

Also!!!

Pretty FUCKIN Human-centric? To just? ASSUME the Chosen One? Is gonna be a humanoid? It SPECIFICALLY did say? "Born to no father" RIGHT???

Wouldn't it, therefore, make SENSE? To start watching species that DON'T HAVE MALES?? Or be in the look out for a lesbian couple created kid, where one of them is trans? Heck, might be cloning! Chosen One could have been a Vode!

Prophecies are fucky like that!

Frankly? Tell me how Baby Yoda's get made. Are there Fathers THERE? Hmmmm? Grogu might be the Chosen One! We don't know! Can't know! There are BILLIONS of Father-less entities! And frankly? We don't even know how good that Seer WAS! Or the exact age when the vision occured!

We all know DAMN WELL, the just by KNOWING the future, you may change it. How many actions were or WEREN'T taken because of that prophecy? How has that rippled across time? Changed the future they saw? Because they spoke of it. Recorded it. Let it weigh heavy on the minds of Jedi for generations to come?

Maybe Anakin Skywalker WOULD have been the Chosen One. WOULD have brought balance. Been everything good and bright and wonderful, just as they saw it.

If they had kept their damn mouth shut.

But they didn't, did they? And they set the stage for a Sith Tragedy instead. A shattering of the Order. The deaths of countless. It became the very thing the Jedi are warned against. Taught to be worry off. Yet we're blinded too in their own house.

They became attached to it. Fearful of it. Obsessed over it. Hated it.

That one prophecy? Became a focal point of Sithly poison inside their hearts.

They should have Let It Go.

[catiuskaa]

this close to begging

SUMMARY: an angsty tension formed out of pent-up feelings. a mix of alcohol, changbin and you might find just the way of solving it.

WC: 1.6k

CW: swearing, angsty feelings, drinking, drunk oral sex (f rec.), mentions of degradation and size kink, use of nicknames: bubs, my love, bunny, recreational use of pussydrunk!changbin because I say so, why not, and I think that’s all, folks! (pls tell me if I missed anything!)

TAGGING! @ur-boyfiends-reading, from a fellow seolar <3 hope you like it! (feel no pressure at all if it isn’t your kind of thing tho)

[◾️☆💠☆◾️]

You hadn’t meant it. Of course you hadn’t.

You had been fed up with everyone’s bullshit in the past week. Dealing with the cons of dating an idol was usually fine, but added to the recent stress in your minimum-wage job, with your boss constanltly prancing around and making everyone’s mood so fucking crispy, roaming and firing people in several departments— including yours.

Let’s just say you weren’t in your best of days. Or… weeks.

And Changbin, well, you hadn’t had the heart to tell him just yet. Or to talk. Much to your and his despair, his schedule had also been against you seeing each other. Always full to the brim. Packed to the infinity.

You had barely seen him the past week. Maybe even the one before, which didn’t help at all with your current exhaustion.

Still, it wasn’t an excuse for the argument that stroke between both of you. You couldn’t point out who or what had started it, but the tension made the focal point of the loud discussion change.

“Leave me the fuck alone for a minute, okay!? You’re always clinging to me like a desperate little bitch.”

You froze, hands slightly trembling after those lies came out of your mouth. You hadn’t meant it, at all. You loved your smol little cuddly Binnie. You loved how you would usually wake up with his hands beneath your shirt as he pampered your face and neck with kisses, his hair messy and fluffy and his face puffy from sleep. You couldn’t figure in your head how that sentence had come off. You couldn’t understand it.

Still, for both his and your sanity, you had moved from your shared bed to the first floor, and locked yourself inside the guest’s room, which was never really used by anyone else than the rest of the members whenever they wanted to stay the night.

After you entered the spare room, you heard a ruffle of sorts and then the loud slam of the main door closing.

And since then, a couple of hours had passed.

You didn’t have the heart to text or apologize. You wouldn’t know where to start, and being honest, you weren’t sure he was going to forgive you. In your mind, that was totally plausible and justifiably so.

Where could Changbin gone? Your chest tightened, not daring to get out. What if he had left to stay elsewhere? No, Chan would’ve texted you.

Right?

You sighed, slowly banging your head against the door behind you, feeling the guilt spread through your body.

Brushing off the tears on your cheeks, you stood up, shaking your head, and decided to step out and head to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee.

The silence in the apartment was killing you slowly. Usually, as loud as he could be, Changbin would leave traces of where he was or what he was doing with small sounds. Like the little giggles when he was texting the members. The loud cackles when he watched instagram reels, and the proud snicker when he encountered edits of himself. The low humming when a song got stuck in his head, there it be one of his own creations or the ones he listened to. The small thuds as he practiced choreographys in his study, for tiktok trends or for Felix’s enjoyment.

Now, it was just silence as you sipped from he mug. It was probably not a good idea to have coffee past one am, but you didn’t care.

And then, you heard the struggles of a drunk man trying to open the door.

You hesitated. He was a mess when he was drunk, but now he’d probably be mad. And you kind of deserved it.

Shaking your head, you opened the door, and his body, slightly taller than yours, fell like a puppet, his head nuzzling into your neck as his arms closed around your waist.

“Bubs, y-you’re so preettty,” he sniffed. He was… crying? “Ah… I- m-missed you, sooo, so muchh…” he trailed off, his eyes teary.

You tried to craddle his face or to move him away, and failed to guide him upstairs.

“N-no!” He refused, tightening his grip around you.

“My love, you should go to bed.” You mentioned softly.

His eyes widened, and his head shot up, his hands now cradling your face.

“W-what did you just say?” He muttered. “D-don’t say that. If you… do that… n-no…”

You blinked, pouting unconciously.

“What, baby?” He shivered under your touch when your hands softly grabbed his wrists.

“Remember how… I uh… said that… alcohol… uh…”

The intense blush in his face made you almost jump in your place, your eyebrows shot up slightly.

You were unable to control a smile that creeped from underneath. “My love…” you started, and he almost whimpered. “Are you getting horny?” You whispered, and he nodded against your neck.

“You… you’re just s’prettyy… ‘n you keep wearing my clothes…” his fingers started to trail patterns, slowly riding up an old hoodie of his that you had most definetely stolen.

You licked your lips.

“Let’s get you to bed, yeah? Lemme take care of you.”

His body fell on the bed like dead weight. His eyes were closed, his features so soft you thought he had fallen asleep.

You started taking his shoes off, followed by his socks, because you knew he hated sleeping with them on.

Changbin sighed, and you stopped.

“Bubs, please,” his hand tugged your sleeve. “P-please… just. Just… this once. ‘M so sorry. I’ll fix this. I’ll do whatever I can. I’ll talk to the company or something.” He blabbered messily, and tugged your sleeve harder, swiftly taking your other arm and pulling towards him, making you fall on top of him.

He brushed a couple of stray hairs from your face, and you struggled you find a comfortable position to lie on him.

“B-bunny, w-wait.” His hands stopped your waist. “Fuck, I need you. Please. I know ‘m drunk… just…” his features scrunched up, thinking.

“Love…” you started.

“Wait, I know!” He blurted out. “Just lemme taste you.” He smiled, breathing against your lips, in a way that you could almost taste what he had drinked earlier.

“W-what?”

He whined. “You always taste s’good, bubs. Please. Binnie need this, pleaaase…” he trailed off, peppering messy kisses on your neck.

You felt him harden underneath you as you thought for an answer.

“But we had a fight, love. I don’t want you to do this and feel wrong about it tomorrow.” You said lowly, biting your lip. “Are you sure about this?”

“I know, I know. ‘m drunk, sure, but you still taste so fucking good ‘nd look like a goddess. Thinking I’ll regret this ‘s bullshit.” He mumbled against your skin.

You got lost in thought, and he took that in advantage, rolling his hips against yours.

“You said you’d take care of me,” he whimpers lowly, his voice hoarse. “Kiss me.” Changbin licked his lips, his mouth dry. “Please.”

There was an urgency, a burning desire that crashed through your body as his lips devoured yours after a shy nod. Each touch of his lips sent ripples of warmth through your body, making both of you more hot and bothered as it grew in intensity. It was a kiss that spoke volumes without uttering a word, a language of emotions conveyed through the mixture of breaths. A way of apologizing from before and a form of drunk reassurance.

The taste was a mixture of the drinks he had taken and your flavoured chapstick, tongues clashing against one another as his hands moved to your waist and turned both of you. With his figure over yours, he parted your legs with soft strokes on your thigh, leaning in, unable to separate from your lips, taste stronger and more addicting than any drink he could’ve found over at the bar.

When you broke apart, a thin strand of drool followed your lips, and without missing a beat, Changbin licked it clean. You panted, your hand on his chest as both of you stared at each other, eyes, lips, taking in the other’s untamed beauty. It was a moment suspended in time, entering your shared bubble back in what felt like months of craving.

Changbin went right back, biting your bottom lip, trailing lustful kisses down your neck, taking your and his clothes off as if they burned, nonchalantly throwing them elsewhere.

“So good, my cute little bunny… already wet, huh?” He snickered, leaving marks on your neck and trailing dow, playfully biting the inside of your thighs. “Binnie’ll make ya feel s’good.”

His kisses started to get closer and closer to your core, making your sigh impatiently, whimpering. He cooead at you, and planted a teasing kiss on your cunt.

You squirmed on your place. “B-binnie…!”

“Shhh, bunny. S’okay.” Changbin smirked slyly, dragging his tongue on you in languid strokes. He grunted when you started moaning louder, your hands now in his hair, his mouth spread wide on you.

As you started babbling in pleasure, he started making out with your sloppy cunt more vigorously, tugging at your thighs, like he wanted to be crushed by them.

“Y’know, fuck…” he moans, and it travels all through your body. “when ya said I was a desperate lil’ bitch… fuck… made me so horny…”

He stared at you from in between your legs. “Binnie’s such a desperate slut for bunny, huh?”

He spread you open with two slender finger, moaning just by feeling how small you are and how you clenched around his fingers, imagining how tight you'd be around him, and he started grinding against the matress unconciously.

He stops grinding when you moan his name and grasp his hair, and lets you ride his face as you reel in pleasure.

You whine when his kisses get too intense and he comes up, his arousal all over his lips and chin, kissing you with all tongue and teeth, allowing you to taste yourself.

“We’ll keep going in the morning,” he panted. “Can’t have enough of you.” Changbin murmured against your neck, falling asleep with you.

~kats, who wrote this while blasting ‘careless whisper’ on her headphones just to see how far she could take it.

THINK I DID OK AS MY FIRST ACTUAL SMUT?!

[ingravinoveritas]

After seeing all those stories of Georgia going shopping with David (I'm honestly surprised that David knows how to drive, I don't know why), I think David is fed up with so much video.

@electronic-chocolate @victorianlonging Okay, so...I have indeed seen all of the stories that are referenced here, and I think a couple of things can be true at the same time. But let's first get the visual up for anyone who hasn't seen it (all in one video, for ease of viewing):

The first thought that I had is how reminiscent this was of what we've seen recently, with Georgia filming David when he seemingly really doesn't want to be filmed (such as at that festival last month).

What also came to mind is something I think at least several of us thought of (if my DMs are any indication), which is that David is clearly, visibly annoyed. There's no real way to not notice it, with him looking incredulous in the car (though I did laugh when he said "I'm not dressed for this," given how adorable he looked without even realizing it), and then when she sets the tone by immediately using the word "content." There's no question that that's what the objective of this was: To have content of/with David that Georgia could post to garner attention.

Once they're in the store, we see him balling up the shopping bags in his hands, which to me came across as a sign of anxiety. And given how non-confrontational we know David is, it's almost amazing to hear him respond to Georgia's "Say hi!" with an immediate "Nope." And the whole thing sort of becomes what you might call a self-narrating zoo exhibit (or "self-paparazzi," as I recently heard someone aptly describe it) where David is literally just trying to shop for groceries while Georgia is sticking a camera in his face.

We also notice that at one point, David is recognized by some fans and stops to take a picture with them, which when you think about it is likely a regular occurrence, since he has one of the most famous faces in the country. But because that is the case, you'd also think he would feel a sense of relief when those interactions are over and he no longer has to be "on"...until he goes back to Georgia and she is filming him. And as good-natured as David is, there's no doubt that it must get a little tiring after a while.

All that said--and in the interest of providing a balanced perspective--it is possible that David was playing things up, to an extent, and perhaps even exaggerating some of the annoyance that we saw. And there was something else about this that stood out to me, and that deserves discussion: His shoes...

Yes, David was wearing gay pride Doc Martens. GAY PRIDE BOOTS, ladies and gentlemen and those of other gender persuasions. And when we realize this is the case, everything about this vlog/series of stories starts to gets very interesting. Because while the shoes were by no means the focal point of the Insta stories, Georgia had to know that David's eagle-eyed fans would clock them right away. And clock them they did (and I also noticed this pair of Pride-themed Doc Martens, and would not be at all surprised to learn that David owns a pair of those as well).

Leaving aside the fact that no straight man on this Earth--no matter how strong an ally--would wear those boots (I mean...come on), I almost saw this as a callback/follow up to Georgia's story from a few months ago where she appeared to use "their" pronouns when talking about David (rather than he/him). Much discussion was had at the time of this being a way to "test the waters" for David to start being more open about his sexuality/identity, and this almost feels like a continuation of that.

Having heard from queer followers of mine who are not fully out to their families/friends, it seems that it is not uncommon for folks in that position to wear things to drop little "hints" around people they are not ready to disclose to yet. And when you think about the number of "hints" from the last few months--the nonbinary pin, the pronoun Insta story, David getting emotional talking about Pride Month on that podcast, and now these new Insta stories wearing those boots--it makes you wonder if it's all building toward something.

Whatever the case may be, it's still difficult to overlook how uncomfortable David looked at times in those videos today--even if he was playing things up. For my part, I would genuinely rather never have Georgia post anything about David again than see him in her posts knowing that he is uncomfortable with it. I also agree that her hunger for content seems to be increasing, but I would also like to hope that if David did seriously ask Georgia to stop filming--for any reasons--that she would do so.

So I suppose we'll have to see what (if anything) this all leads to, and what will happen if/when she films him again. Happy as always to hear others' thoughts in the comments...

[selfcestmovies]

It had been one of Avengers Tower's more raucous parties — filled to the brim with laughter, booze, and lively banter between Earth's Mightiest Heroes. And it was the first party where Wanda and Natasha were "out" as a couple. Nat couldn't keep her hands off her.

Wanda was a bit more bashful, however. She always enjoyed Natasha's attention in private, but in front of other partygoers the persistent flirtation was a bit much. She knew it was pointless to ask Natasha to stop, and any pushback simply fueled her pursuit even further. The seductive glances grew more fierce as the night went on, even when the two were seated across a room of bustling conversation.

And it would be the conversation that would lead to Wanda's downfall.

The Avengers were a pompous group and enjoyed jeering, taunting, and daring each other in times like this. The topic of Wanda's magic became a focal point. Folks were asking her about the limits of her powers, and Wanda was already a few drinks deep and much less coy than usual about her skills as a developing witch.

"Can you conjure other people?" The question seemed entirely hypothetical. Wanda politely deflected.

"I bet you can," Nat crooned. "I think you should try."

Wanda smiled at her girlfriend. "And whom should I conjure?"

Natasha took a sip of her champaign. "Do me," She winked.

In most cases, Wanda was never this cavalier about her powers. But Nat had asked for it. With a flick of her wrist and a cloud of red smoke, another Natasha Romanoff appeared out of thin air.

For the long minutes that followed, Wanda actually wasn't in the spotlight. The partygoers were far more entranced by the Natasha doppelgänger, and quite eager to search for any differences between the two Natashas. There seemed to be not a single distinction between the two redheads — not a hair out of place or a memory or mannerism that hadn't been perfectly replicated. Wanda managed to use the commotion to slink out of sight and grab another drink.

The next time she spotted the Natashas, they were whispering, giggling, casting gazes now twofold at Wanda across the party. What on earth had she unleashed? The hours ticked on. Wanda spotted the Natashas dancing together. Grinding. Making out. They were giving all their attention to one another instead of Wanda — and putting on a show to drive Wanda's jealousy off the walls.

By the time the three finally found a dark corner to themselves, their lust had boiled over. Natasha loved making Wanda jealous, and now with Wanda in her clutches, she had twice as many hands to touch her. Double the lips to tease her with.

"Upstairs, now," the Natashas spoke together, in unison. "You're ours for the rest of the evening."

Wanda looked from one gorgeous Natasha to the other. She was impossible to resist.

[frownyalfred]

Hello! I’m not Jewish and I just learned about Pikuach Nefesh. Being Jewish yourself, I’m guessing you have a lot of thoughts on this and how it relates to Bruce’s no-kill policy. I’d be really interested in hearing them if you want to make a post!

Hey friend!

I absolutely have thoughts, but I must begin with a disclaimer:

My perspective does not cover all Jews, nor is it the authority on what is or isn't Jewish. I grew up Reform/Reconstructionist, in an ethnically Ashkenazi Jewish family, and these are just my thoughts as a Batman blog.

Another important note: different types of Jews hold the halacha (rules/principles) of Judaism to be far more important in their lives. An Orthodox Jew will observe halacha much more strictly than a Reform Jew. Despite what some people will tell you, this doesn't make either of them better. Just different.

Whew, okay. Now that that's out of the way, let's get down to business.

What is Pikuach Nefesh?

In very general terms, Pikuach Nefesh (hard ch sound in the back of your throat) allows Jews to override other religious "rules" or values in the pursuit of preserving or saving a life.

A good example of this is a an Orthodox Jewish person, who, following halacha, will not drive or operate items with electricity during the Sabbath (Shabbat). But what happens if someone has a heart attack and they need to call 911? Pikuach Nefesh would permit them to use electricity, despite it being Shabbat.

If a Jewish person who keeps total kosher is in a situation where they will starve if they do not eat non-kosher food, they are permitted to eat non-kosher food.

Exceptions

There are some notable exceptions to Pikuach Nefesh, which I suspect is what your question is getting at. The threat to an individual's life generally has to be known, urgent, and not abstract.

Murder is another large exception, with some conditions. Generally, the intentional act of killing another person, or injuring them to the point where they might die from their injuries, is not an act that can be permitted by the principle of Pikuach Nefesh.

The slim exceptions to this include highly specific cases of self defense of oneself or another against an aggressor. One may kill to preserve a life in very strict situations, but they cannot murder. There are even times where killing is obligated, such as war.

So how does this relate to Batman/Bruce's no-killing rule?

Okay. So. I've had a lot of discussions with folks about this, and the answer I've learned is: it doesn't. Not really.

Pikuach Nefesh refers to the principle that a Jewish person should preserve life over almost any other rule or halacha. It does, actually, permit Bruce to kill under very specific situations. It does actually forbid him from gravely injuring people and doing so in the name of fighting against abstract threats, which are both things he does in canon.

The last time I wrote about this, I was definitely off about the details of Pikuach Nefesh in regard to Batman. I was corrected and I stand by that correction. I didn't grow up in the Orthodox faith and I don't observe much of their halacha, which is where a lot of religious theory questions arise from. I'm not an expert, and my explanation is only as deep as my own experience.

I think a good way of looking at Pikuach Nefesh is not as a way to define what, if any, killing is acceptable, but rather, what are we obligated to do to save a life?

The more important Jewish principle shaping Batman's ideology (in my opinion)

"Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire."

This is much more of an important focal point for Bruce's Jewish-influenced ideology. The flipside of this quote, from the Talmud, is equally important: "Whoever kills one life, kills the world entire."

Bruce's no-killing rule is famously tied to his parents' deaths during his childhood. In a way, his entire world ended with their murder. He sees his mission to clean up Gotham as a way to prevent that loss from occurring for anyone else.

Saving one person, like he tells Barry in Justice League, is enough. That is a viciously Jewish thought. It is frequently quoted in reference to those who acted in support of Jews during the Holocaust, doing what little they could against a fountain of evil.

Conclusion

In that regard, yes -- Pikuach Nefesh tells us that preserving a life is the most important thing above all else. But Bruce's no-killing rule would swiftly be broken if he followed the principle of Pikuach Nefesh closely, in that he would a) likely have to kill someone in self-defense at some point in his duties and b) it would not allow him to injure or hurt people to the extent that he currently does in canon.

More importantly, Bruce's no-killing rule is a better reflection of the Talmudic quote that "he who saves/kills a life, has saved/killed a world entire."

It is not much of a stretch, in my opinion, to connect Bruce's trauma from losing his parents at young age to his outright refusal to kill later in life. The more interesting question, in my mind, is if the creation of this no-killing rule truly was shaped by Batman's Jewish creators and their view on life and death, especially post Holocaust.

Comics became more widely available during and after WWII and the Holocaust, during which time many -- many -- Jews entered the field as writers and artists. Their influences on the characters we see today are obvious, often intentionally Jewish, but just as often un-intentional.

Was Batman's no-killing rule a product of the post-WWII Jewish comic writers who shaped his character? Was it a coincidence that lined up well with the Talmud, but not necessarily all the conditions of Pikuach Nefesh?

How else does Batman represent, or not represent, the goal of Pikuach Nefesh (the necessity that a person act in the preservation of human life, above almost all else)?

[theloniousbach]

THE FOLKS OF FOCAL POINT: JAY HARKEY

As with several Focal Point Board Members, Jay Harkey contributes as a member of the broader traditional music scene. Yet, Jay’s participation in that community is intimately tied up with and is dependent on the Focal Point.

He has performed on our stage with the Wee Heavies, the mostly a Capella quartet devoted to Scottish and Irish song for which he arranges and sings bass-baritone. But, as Jay tells it, the route to those performances and now the Board results from the generous resource that the Focal Point represents.

Perhaps 15 years ago as a school music teacher, he attended an E. Desmond Lee Fine Arts Collective conference at the University of Missouri-St Louis where he met Diane McCollough, the artistic director of the Scottish Partnership for Arts and Education. Among SPAE’s partners is Focal Point where their artists-in-residence perform to cap their week. For many years, until the Lockdown, that artist was Brian McNeill.

McNeill helped found the venerable Battlefield Band which did for Scottish music what the Bothy Band and The Chieftains did for Irish music in the 1960s and 1970s. With legendary gruffness belying his generous spirit, McNeill, on hearing the Wee Heavies sing at a second Scottish Games, said, “So, you’re still singing. Okay.”

A year or two later, the Heavies sang a couple of tunes at McNeill’s Focal Point concert before their own full Focal Point debut six weeks later. A year or two after that, McNeill spent a month in St Louis around the Games and his SPAE week to produce the Heavies second CD.

Some of the material for that CD came from songs Jay learned from the weekly singing sessions Judy Stein organizes. Jay and his daughters have been known, further, to dance and play at practices of the Capering Roisters and River Rats Border Morris teams.

Having gone all in with traditional music, he comes to the Focal Point Board with an interest in producing shows like October’s Jim and Susie Malcolm concert and building our cultural sustainability so that other school teachers and singers and musicians will build an ever-richer Focal Point in the decades ahead.

[aurantia-ignis]

My entry for @rockmiyabideusexmachina's summer contest!

When I read the contest guidelines, I knew I wanted something dramatic, yet also with small tinges of humour, featuring some of my favourite folks from the EXE series. When I started drafting a sketch, it began to look like a nightmare because I'd go WHY IS THERE AN EMPTY SPACE HERE DOES IT LOOK TOO EMPTY I BETTER FILL IT UP WITH MORE CHARACTERS AND THINGS and then suddenly the worry was that my composition might get too cluttered oh NO and how am I supposed to light it to get the focal points to still work out?!

Thankfully, with plenty of help and advice from my sister, I managed to get it to look somewhat like what I had envisioned <3 It was really fun to work on, in the end, especially as I got to revisit one of my favourite series of my childhood <333

Check out the other amazing entries here!! Everyone did a marvelous job!

[mauesartetc]

Faux-compositing Hazbin Hotel for more visual clarity

A while back I recolored a screenshot from the Hazbin Hotel pilot to make the overall palette look more cohesive. Here’s the original:

And here’s the result.

And I figure, hey, that was fun, and folks (myself included) seemed to learn from it. Why not make some more? If you subscribe to the “every frame a painting” philosophy, this is the post for you.

I’ve always had two criticisms regarding Hazbin’s colors:

1. There’s entirely too much red in the environment. I know it’s Hell, but this is really overbearing. There are ways to make the setting feel oppressive other than bombarding viewers’ eyes, y’know?

2. The background characters have so many disparate palettes that they don’t feel like they belong in the setting. This could’ve been avoided by giving the fans who designed the characters a master palette to use as a guideline. Here’s the one I used for my hellhound designs:

It contains colors derived from canon Helluva Boss characters, which makes the new ones feel like they fit in the same world rather than hailing from completely different shows. For the faux-composite above, I sampled colors from Charlie and the background, and used them to rework the surrounding characters. For other shots, though, I may use the hellhound palette as needed since Helluva Boss is set in the same universe.

Let’s get to it!

To start with, there’s a lot going on in this scene. We have a detailed foreground character, a detailed background, and a middle ground character caught between them. In the left side of the frame, it’s hard to read the wolfman’s silhouette against the background elements since their values are so similar. Meanwhile, the cowboy stands out fine for the most part, though his hat brim gets a bit lost in the trim of the building behind him. So basically I needed a way to make all three layers look distinct from one another.

I settled on cloaking most of the background in shadow and doing the same for the cowboy, except for rim lighting and a glow from his cigarette to highlight his face. The wolfman and cart full of bodies have minimal shading; enough to give them some dimension but not so much that they blend in with everything behind them.

We then have more background characters to deal with at the news station:

In these cases, I simply painted over the crowd with purple on a couple Multiply layers (same as my initial recolor of these folks), erasing bits here and there to suggest rim lighting and glowing eyes. Charlie’s silhouette stands out much more clearly now that the heightened value contrast has cemented her as the focus.

I tried a similar approach with the demons outside the TV store:

While there was never any doubt that Alastor was the focal point here, I felt the ancillary characters’ color schemes could be more unified, and that their shading could reflect the light sources surrounding them (mainly the TVs in front of them, and the fire surrounding the horned skull demon). I also felt the wall on the right was blending in too much with the background, so I threw on some shading to make it pop.

Now we get to Charlie’s phone call:

I found it odd that the stained glass in the doors was illuminated from the inside when the previous scenes showed us that the hotel was dark. We did see a check-in desk with functional lights, but it was located waaaay down the hall from these doors. Thus, the glass is now in shadow, with some added texture on the edges to suggest its thickness.

Charlie is now also covered in shadow to fit the gloomy mood of the scene, though the rim lighting and her unshaded eyes keep her separate from the background.

Finally, the skyscraper windows in the second screenshot were way too bright, which gave them a contrast that drew attention away from Charlie. It’s never a good sign when animation backgrounds upstage the characters. So I slapped some color on them and shaded that front row of buildings to boost the overall gloom factor.

Then, Alastor arrives:

Given the darkness of the previous scene in the same location, I figured it’d make sense to kill the lights in the awning for this one. And now that most of the hotel is in shadow, Charlie and Alastor stand out a lot more (especially Alastor’s hand, which was practically invisible against the red wall). It really helps that the saturated yellow of the awning is toned down so it won’t be such an eye trap any longer.

Alastor makes himself at home:

...And the hyper-detailed background threatens to swallow him up.

Look, guys- I get that you’re proud of your rendering skills and all, and it’s admirable that you put so much love and care into these layouts. But, y’know, we don’t have to see the whole thing, especially not at the cost of the final frame. The portraits and wallpaper are especially distracting, battling Alastor for visual dominance. A little shading ensures Alastor is the focus without obscuring the portraits completely. Let ‘em be fun Easter eggs fans can study when they pause the video, not the stars of the show.

Alastor then regards the two grumps on the couch:

There was a noticeable lack of shading in this scene (except the default shadows on what I’m guessing were 3D models), making everything look flat. With the help of my good friend the Multiply layer, I gave the background some dimension and brought the characters forward.

Vaggie warns Charlie that Alastor is bad news, and Charlie takes it into consideration:

Again, we have the issue of background portraits attempting to steal the characters’ thunder. In the second screenshot, look at how much those bright greens and cyans stick out like a sore thumb against the dusky pink of everything else. Was it really necessary to keep all the colors of that illustration exactly how they were for the final product?

To remedy this, I desaturated the portrait’s colors and skewed them towards red so the image would better fit the context of the scene. And parts of the picture frame next to it were blending into the wall, so I added some shading there to make it stand out more.

Sometimes, changes made to a confined area can make a world of difference:

I muted the bright greens of the balloon and the flag so their saturation wouldn’t dominate everything else in the scene (again, eye traps), and shaded the stuff behind Alastor so his side of the frame wouldn’t look so busy.

I used similar tactics for when Niffty enters the picture:

For the first screenshot, I plunged the left side of the background into darkness, shaded the center with mainly lighter colors, and left the right side alone since that’s where the light emanated from. This resulted in a sort of gradient effect in the shading, which let Alastor and Niffty pop out a lot more.

In the second screenshot, the vase on the right was a bit distracting in how detailed it was compared to its surroundings, and it was the only pink thing in the frame besides Niffty. I shaded it so it wouldn’t steal the spotlight without disappearing completely. There was also the matter of adding shadows to the rest of the environment, particularly the stretch of hearth the firelight doesn’t touch, and the skeletons on either side of the furnace’s opening. Just some little touches to help the world feel more solid.

Then we meet Husk, and things get tricky.

Husk’s bar was a challenge due to its plethora of light sources. The green rim lights on Husk and Alastor suggest the light’s coming from the green blackjack table, but then we also have light coming through the window, lights in the sockets of the skulls above the bar, a yellow glow from the top of the bar itself, and a faint green glow from the top edges of the wooden wall. And in the third screenshot, the window grabs a lot of attention since it’s almost smack in the center of the frame and it sports some pretty saturated colors.

I did my best to shade things in a believable manner without using too much of a single color. I’m happy with how the purple worked to tone down the window, though I might change the brightness of the blackjack table. It’s still pretty saturated and a bit distracting from Husk and Alastor, though at least they stand out from the wall a bit better.

Now for the part where things get PINK:

Like wow, SO much pink. Holy hell.

I layered some yellow over Charlie and Alastor’s faces, bodies, and limbs so they’d be more discernible from the background, with extra emphasis on their faces to show just how enraptured they are during this musical number. I even left some glow in the negative space between them, representing how connected they are in this moment. Two auras become one. Or something. (Look, I am by NO means a Charlastor shipper; I just think a little more creativity in the visuals of a dance scene could convey more energy and chemistry between the partners. Especially when everything on screen is this monochromatic, like damn.)

Anyway, Sir Pent is here.

That blue in the tunnel of his airship was WAY saturated, and while the reds and yellows barely managed to pop out against it, I thought I’d give them more of a fighting chance. The body of the ship is also more consistently shaded to make it feel 3D, and I added some rim lights to the tips of Pent’s hood so they’d stand out against the dark tunnel.

But Alastor’s eldritch horrors dispose of Pent in pretty short order:

The extremely light glow on the left side of this screenshot caused the hotel to compete with the tentacles for dominance. And once again, there was the matter of the skyscraper windows being so bright they drew too much attention to themselves. I colored these windows with the same orange as the sky behind them, cloaked the hotel in shadow, kept a yellowish glow around the characters, and darkened the evil spirits to make them pop out.

Finally, we get the characters’ reactions to what just occurred:

Figured I’d handle both the normal lighting and the “horror” lighting for this scene. The normal version’s pretty simple: Color in more skyscraper windows, eliminate that weird ray of light that seems to come from nowhere, darken the top of the sky for more contrast with the characters, add some rim lights to Alastor to make his form more clearly defined, and remove the pentagram planet-thingy that looked like it was awkwardly resting on Husk’s hat.

The horror lighting involved some of the same steps, but with more addition than subtraction. The glow from the tentacle demons now hits our characters, lending them a greater sense of volume. Light purple shadows on the gang in the back offset the yellow glow, and Alastor now sports reflections in his shaded areas. There’s no character animation in the transition between the terror and the levity, so if a person wanted to paint this stuff in After Effects, then fade out its opacity to reach the regular lighting, they easily could. Hell, you know what?

Do with this information what you will.

So what’s the takeaway here? I guess, in a nutshell: Don’t let your animation backgrounds upstage the characters. Don’t make them so intricate or busy or saturated that they hog the spotlight. They don’t need to wow the audience with how impressive they are; they just need to serve the story.

Will the Hazbin series learn from past mistakes (including those made in Helluva Boss)? Fingers crossed. As always, I hope y’all found this post insightful or enlightening in some way. See you in the next one!

[fefairys]

(on the pages where aradia talks about the battle with the black king after it happens)

"Hinting at a big, final boss battle was the way to go here. No huge animation. No way. I'm sure people wanted that they always did). Some folks out there did make a big, simulated king battle animation years later. But that would have been a very wrong application of production time and effort here. It's not relevant, it's not the focus, and the battles of the story almost never are. It's helping solidify the ongoing precedent that endgame battles really are not what Homestuck does. I've said things like that outside the story, and included many reminders of it within. The supreme example of this, of course, is the alleged endgame battle that is theoretically supposed to take place with Lord English. Conventional expectations lead to presumptions on the reader's part that the narrative is structured that way, and what it must be building up to. This is a rather substantial point of analysis, probably best left for closer to that moment. But navigating around certain big battles and confrontations relates to some themes I've bandied about freely in this book. That, in short, the "real story" we've been trained to look for and expect in such media isn't actually the "real story" of Homestuck. It's an imagined narrative that happens in the background while the stuff we're most concerned with takes place on an extra-narrative layer with a set of completely different focal points and objectives, and only uses the backdrop traditional-narrative layer as substance for deconstruction, satire, and subversion of expectations, and as a basis for the parallels it draws between the regimentations within narrative and real life, which exist to challenge those forced to grow up in either environment." -Andrew Hussie

[ingravinoveritas]

Have you seen this?

(Grouping these together since they are related.)

So, I have indeed seen Georgia's Insta stories from today, of which there were several. I'll put up some screenshots of the ones @mythicalgallery mentioned for those who might not have seen them:

These stories came first, of a photo of David with Elliot Levey (who was his co-star in Good and is, I believe, also godfather to at least one of David and Georgia's children), and who could probably make a killing moonlighting as a Michael Sheen lookalike. Apparently a lot of people thought the same thing, going by the volume of comments on Twitter and people also replying to Georgia's story, which she subsequently took a screenshot of and posted.

That then brings us to the story in @climb-dtennant-like-a-tree's screenshot. What's strange to me is that Georgia posted another picture of she and David (both of which were presumably taken in the car on their way to or home from their outing last night) with his face not covered (posting side by side for comparison):

So I'm not entirely sure why she chose to censor the second picture, although I've seen numerous theories abound. One that seems particularly common is people saying that she didn't want people to make her picture be about him, which is interesting to me because all of Georgia's pictures that she takes with David are about him, whether he's the focal point of the photo/video or not. He is there to generate engagement, because she knows that is what people want to see, and that photos of her with him have many more interactions than those that do not.

I've also seen some folks saying that perhaps David did not want to be photographed by a one-woman paparazzo and she is respecting his privacy, but to my mind, if that were truly the case she would not have taken or posted the pic at all. My feeling, then, is that David either looked pissed off or was making a weird face and Georgia did not want that to detract from the shot, so censored his face. This isn't far out of character for her, either, as she also censored Michael's face in another Insta story from last month.

For me, however, the interesting timing of today was not anything to do with these stories, but rather Georgia posting another story (a picture of David with Birdie) right after AL posted the video of Michael and Lyra. It's hard to say how much of this was coordinated or planned, but given how many times this has happened, it makes me wonder if they are posting these things for entertainment, just to see the fans freak out and praise them for it. I've mentioned previously how Georgia and AL remind me of the girls who used to bully me in high school, and this reminds of one particular facet of their behavior. In Georgia and AL's case, it's doing things to get a reaction/a rise out of the fans and then making fun of the fans for it. I fully acknowledge that I have no way to know this for sure, but that is the feeling that I get.

But yes, those are my thoughts on Georgia's story censoring David's face/all of the assorted Insta stories from today. I would be curious to know what my followers think of all this as well...

[dootznbootz]

allow yourself to be a little arrogant! if you were to claim that you know more than most people about a specific character from greek mythology, which character would it be?

*puts on the hat of arrogance so I can take it off right afterward*

Penelope 😅 😂

Like most of what we find of her is in the Odyssey, and even then, in my opinion, Homer I almost feel purposefully makes her a bit of an enigma. As we're in Odysseus' "POV" most of the time, and it's kind of a "She tricks the trickster, she tricks the narrator, she tricks the suitors, she tricks the reader, etc."

But even with this lil bit of "sneakiness" with her, we still get so many hints of her character and who she is and I adore it 🥹

Even then she has a lot of background lore that is just SOOOO much fun to play with. Her being of Naiad descent (whether 50-75% depending on what myths you go with), her many brothers and one sister, Her dad being a racer, her being cousins with Helen, Castor, Pollux, Clytemnestra Sparta itself, And that's just background lore!!!! There's so much to play with and that makes it so fun!

And well, like, I KNOW I'm the reason for a big boom of "Water Wife" lol 😅 Were there "Naiad Penelopes" before I came back on Tumblr? YES! :D Absolutely! I'm definitely NOT the first "Naiad Penelope" person!

But I DID create "Water Wife" AND I know I help cause more Water Pennys to be in the world >:3 Even if folks weren't directly inspired by me, they probably got it from someone else who was! :3 and I know my headcanons are often being used by others.

*The hat of arrogance droops a lil on my head so it becomes a lil bit of the sad arrogance hat*

I sometimes don't really like that I'm like, "the biggest, loudest Penelope fan", you know? ;~;

I know I'm not the only Penelope fan <3 I know there are others. Many lovely fans and creators :3 This isn't to negate them and the love and works. <3

But in fandom in general, In some ways, I...I'm a lil sad that like, a lot of the info that some people have on her in the fandom I know is because of me 😓 Like...Why did it take someone else to be a nerd about her for others to be a nerd about her, you know?

Like, it makes me happy that people are finally giving her love and seeing a lot more fics and headcanons with her as a focal point but like, I'm sad feeling like I started it in fandom (again, Penelope HAS been praised throughout the ages after all) recently. Why did it take ME to get others so nuts about her? Why do I see most folks caring about her simply because Odysseus and Telemachus do?

It's like, there are many Odysseus bloggers, there are a few Telemachus bloggers (Hi! :D ), but there are few, (if really many others) blogs that are like "most stuff I do is Penelope, Odysseus and others are there sometimes but It's mostly Penelope in here".

(granted I have not really...looked too much recently as it started making me sad to think about her not getting a lot of love) I am also very picky. I won't stand for cardboard Penelope who is only there to prop up her husband and/or thinks he "cheated" or have Odysseus cheat. Penelope, and women in general, are not props for their husbands/sons.)

As like, I got most of my info FROM the Odyssey AND just simply looking stuff up about her and Sparta and her family. And so I get this lil feeling of "...We both read the same book, why did it take me pointing out that Penelope is constantly wishing violence on the suitors for people to know that she does that? Why did you think that Penelope didn't come up with the archery contest when it explicitly says she did?"

And it's not like, even a feeling of "gatekeeping" or wanting to be like "You're a Penelope fan, huh? Well then tell me the names of all her possible brothers? >:(" It's more like a

Me: "I love Penelope!" Person:"YEs! I love Penelope too!" Me: "Yippee! Can you tell me about your Penelope? :D I love all Penelopes! I wanna talk about her!" Person: "Well, she's more quiet and reserved but that's her secret >:3 she strikes when you least expect it!" Me: "YES!!! That's so fun! I have her 'Likeminded' with Odysseus and she's silly, reckless, hotheaded just like he is :D Can you tell me some headcanons about her? What do you have for her childhood? I'm really excited!" Person: "Oh I don't have much for her childhood actually." Me: "That's okay! Do you wanna brainstorm together? Maybe bounce some ideas so you can get some down?" Person: "Oh no, that's okay. I've got all I need,as I really only have her when she meets Odysseus." Me: "o-oh okay.:'D "

As like...I dunno. When you love a character, you wanna meet others who also will ramble nonstop about them too, you know?

I sometimes feel like, idk, some folks are like "Think up Penelope headcanons for us! :D " especially as like... I've had that whole "Oh no, I've got all I need!" experience more than once :')

Ngl, like, part of the reason I go so "apeshit" about her is yeah, because I am, but also like, in hope more people will join me? Which yeah! People have! And that makes me happy!

But even then, I just... I DO like this joke, don't get me wrong, but with how whenever I fangirl about her, people are like, "Found Odysseus" and yippee! :D I think it's fun to be called Odysseus!

But also like...Why does it still tie back to him? Why is it still about Odysseus? (even my own tag of "Shot by Odysseus" is still technically about him! (I'm keeping it because I'm stupid but still)) Why aren't Odysseus fans called "Penelope" then? She loves him just as much, right?

I think there's more "OdyPen fans" than there are Penelope fans. Because most Penelope stuff HAS to do with Odysseus, and it's usually like, STILL centered around him. Which is really weird to me, as I don't know how you can be a big Odysseus fan without being an equally big Penelope fan. They are way way too intertwined to not be equally talked/headcanoned/etc. about in my opinion. They're like the same person imo in a way lol.

In my opinion, you cannot bring up Odysseus without mentioning Penelope, you cannot bring up Penelope without mentioning Odysseus.

It's literally like that in the Odyssey. (Explain that part of Homer's passage here.)

...So why are there so many fics with Odysseus doing so much without Penelope, and yet, very few Penelope fics that don't have much of anything to do with Odysseus?

*takes off hat of arrogance*

And like...I'm a goober just like every other fan, you know? I'm not some "mastermind". All my "good" headcanons are simply loving her and thinking about her often. It's...not hard to love a character. I just rotate her around a lot. :3