#great van fleet imagine

[aflame4goinghome]

Part Of The Band

j.t.k x f.reader

part one

a/n: this is my first time writing Jake and I have to admit that it’s been so intimidating. he was the one I was soooo scared to write, since he’s my main lane. I plan to make this into a series, so I really hope you all enjoy it :)

word count: 5k

summary: your best friend asks you to come with her to a concert for a band that you’re unfamiliar with. your decision to go proves to have more repercussions than you thought when you run into the band at your favorite bar after the show. you never would have imagined the pull that you’d feel toward their guitarist, or that you would somehow manage to capture his attention…

warnings: yearning, some cussing, mentions of alcohol, smoking. some parts are slightly sexually implicit, including: light groping, kissing, and some sexual language. minors beware! the next part will definitely contain smut.

You’ve never been one to pass up on a night out, especially if it involves music. Music is something that you actively search for constantly, it defines you. You’d do anything to just be able to listen to live music, to close your eyes and just feel it flow through your body. Since you lack any actual musical talent besides half-decent singing, you just listen to it as much as you can.

So, when your roommate and best friend, Sophie, asked you to come with her to a concert tonight last minute, you could hardly just say no. Did you have a big midterm tomorrow afternoon that you needed to study for? Maybe. But live music always comes first. Sophie was always finding last-minute concerts for you to go to together- it was kind of your thing. This time, however, it was a band you didn’t really know.

You’re pretty sure you’ve heard one of their singles, Heat Above, online somewhere a few times but that was the most knowledge you had of Greta Van Fleet. You don’t know much about their background or their names, just that they make rock music and that’s all you need to be convinced to go. You and Sophie had always found yourselves at the Greek Theatre for just about any kind of concert, so this wasn’t a new thing for you.

The show is meant to start at 7:00 pm, but Sophie is always determined to be as close to the stage as possible, so you’re getting ready in the afternoon to get there around 2:30 or 3 o’clock. In the name of comfortability, you opt to wear ripped black skinny jeans, a white halter top, and your Doc Martens. You keep your hair down, wavy and lying right below your shoulders. You put on some simple makeup, just to cover up any blemishes you might have, do some tight-lined eyeliner, and put on a bit of your favorite silver eyeshadow. You take a deep breath. Okay, you’re ready.

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Sophie calls your Uber over to the Greek and you both arrive there just in time. You see about 50 people there already, so you both know that you’ll have a great spot in the small pit. You guys sit down at the end of the line and make yourselves comfortable to wait in the line for several hours until you’re let into the venue. Late October in LA can be pretty comfortable, today is in the mid-70s, so it isn’t a terrible day to camp out. You and Sophie talk about schoolwork, gossip about your friends, and play various games until it’s suddenly 6 o’clock and it’s time to head into the venue.

The group walks down the steps of the Greek and security has the line start all the way to the left of the pit. You and Sophie end up standing toward the front of the right side of the stage, which you’re perfectly content with. It’s not long before the openers come on- they were all great. The energy in the theatre was amazing and the weather was beautiful, it was like a dream.

Next thing you know, the lights go out and it’s pitch black. The crowd goes wild, screaming for the band to come out. Ominous music starts to play over the speakers and a short video plays on the screens on the sides of the stage. You can tell that the band enjoyed building suspense and it certainly works.

Suddenly, you see a dark silhouette emerge from stage left and appear right in front of your gaze. He’s holding a guitar, stepping up to the front of the stage where you assume his pedals are, and strikes a loud chord, bringing everyone’s attention to him. The lights turn up, with a sole spotlight on him, as he starts to play a dark, hypnotizing melody that almost takes the air out of your lungs. You turn your focus to the drummer and keyboardist entering the stage now, adding to the mix and making the sound grow even larger and darker than before.

The crowd then screams as the singer walks out with an enormous smile on his face. You can immediately tell what fans would love about him, he exudes brightness and kindness from the second you look at him. He begins vocalizing and you’re taken aback by his singing abilities, his voice is truly amazing.

The first verse begins and you decide to turn your attention back to the guitarist. You study the way he moves on stage; how he walks upstage then downstage with this confident strut that you can’t help but feel mesmerized by. You notice a theme of blue in their outfits but are drawn specifically to the design on the guitarist’s suit, covered in stars and astrological symbols of the Taurus, paired with dark boots. It’s honestly beautiful.

As you’re admiring what he’s wearing, you take a moment to truly look at him. He has long brown hair with a slight wave to it, falling an inch or two below his collarbones. His eyebrows are dark and quite thick, knit tightly as he’s concentrating on what he’s playing. His eyes are equally as dark, though it's hard to tell their exact hue from this many feet away.

You catch yourself staring for too long and want to make the effort to shift your eyes elsewhere and as you do, his eyes meet yours. It’s a concert, of course the band is going to make eye contact with their fans, it’s a small pit. But he seems to hold his gaze for several seconds to the point where you think he might actually be looking at you specifically. You give him a shy smile, which he returns, and then moves on with the song.

The rest of the song continues and you think you’re really starting to like Greta Van Fleet, the music is truly fantastic. The singer’s voice is beautiful and like nothing you’ve ever heard before. Suddenly he stops and the guitarist approaches the end of the stage, seemingly for his guitar solo. It’s nothing short of amazing, the way that he plays the guitar is so captivating, it’s like your eyes can’t look away.

You hear the crowd go insane for it, screaming things like “Yeah Jake!” “Do it, Jakey!” “Fuck it up!!” and you’re sure that he’s eating it all up. Jake, you think to yourself. Interesting. It becomes clear that the girls go crazy for him and you know that must give him some sort of complex. He seems so confident and you can’t blame him, with all the praise that he’s receiving- praise that is very well-deserved.

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All of the following songs go the same exact way. You can’t seem to take your eyes off of Jake. You’ve also deeply fallen in love with their music and the love that it emits. You feel very glad about your decision to go to the concert tonight- you can feel that this has changed the course of your life in some way. Throughout the show, you notice that sometimes Jake would catch you watching him, which you didn’t mind. Surely he was used to being watched on stage like that, in amazement and admiration. You truly do admire him and his talent, it’s something very special. All of his riffs are so satisfying to hear and the chords blend so perfectly.

Once the encore ends, the band goes to leave the stage. You watch Jake as he walks toward the end of the stage, which you assume is to hand out his guitar picks before leaving for the night. Much to your surprise, he looks right at you as he leans over and tosses it to you. Your cheeks turn a shade of pink and you look up at him, smiling and thanking him. What a night to remember. You think that this would be it, but you are dead wrong.

You and Sophie turn to exit the pit, which takes some time considering how close you are to the front. You’re eventually able to exit the theatre and wait on the sidewalk for a game plan. “So… you wanna go to the Tavern?” Sophie asks. The Tavern is your go-to bar in Beverly Hills; it has a good atmosphere, great cocktails, and isn’t too far from campus. You and Sophie go there at least once every weekend, they all know your names there. You glare at her with a concerned look, “Soph, I have such a big exam tomorrow, are you serious?” She rolls her eyes, “Come on! Live a little! You’re telling me you don’t wanna at least get a little drunk to take your mind off of it? We just saw an amazing show, let’s go celebrate!”

Sophie always knew how to convince you to do anything, no matter what it was. She knew your weaknesses every time. You groan, “Ugh, fine. But if you have to wake my ass up tomorrow at 2 pm for my exam because I’m too hungover, you'll have no one to blame but yourself.” She smiles wide and says “I know, I know. I’ve already called the Uber to take us there now.” Cheeky girl, she knew she’d convince you.

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It's already midnight by the time you arrive at the Tavern. The last call is always at 1 am so you know that you won't be there too long. You both walk in and find your favorite booth in the back, placing your jackets down before going up to the bar to order your drinks. Sophie orders you both a shot of tequila, then gets herself a margarita. You order a bourbon punch and turn back to take a seat in your booth. You both take your shots when you sit down, then you debrief tonight’s events.

“So, what did you think of the band? Did you like them?” Sophie asks.

“Yeah, it was amazing actually. I don’t know how I hadn’t found them before now. The music that they make is extraordinary,” you reply with a smile. You do have some questions, though. “So what’s their deal? The lore?”

“Oh, well they’re from Michigan. They’re actually brothers, besides the drummer- though they all grew up together. Josh, the singer, and Jake, the guitarist, are twins.” You nod your head. I did think they looked alike, you think to yourself. “Sam is their younger brother, and Danny is his best friend. They’ve been making music for a while but they blew up a lot in like 2019 and then this new album skyrocketed their fame.”

“Well, that doesn’t surprise me. This album is absolutely breathtaking. From what I heard tonight, their music is so mind-blowing. It really took my breath away,” you explain.

“I knew you'd love it. I’m so glad that you’re into them now. Especially Jake, it seemed,” she smirked.

You reach over to smack her on the arm and exclaim, “Sophie! That’s crazy! I don’t know where you got that idea! I was not into him.” The blush that’s made its way to your face tells a different story, however.

“You so were! You couldn’t take your eyes off of him that entire show, I watched you. I think he might’ve been looking at you too, you know,” she jests. Just the thought that Jake might have been actually interested in you made your stomach turn. You shake your head.

“No, Soph. There’s no way. Sure, we might have locked eyes once or twice, but there were thousands of people there. I’m sure he looks at all of his fans like that…” you trail off, wanting to shut this conversation down as soon as possible to save yourself from any further embarrassment. You pick up your glass, which is half empty, then chug the whole thing. “Oh, look at that, my drink is gone. I’m gonna go get another, I’ll be back.” You smirk at her, successfully avoiding the conversation for now, and then get up from your seat to walk back to the bar.

As you approach the bar, there’s a group of men leaning against it, ordering drinks. You go to stand on the right of them to wait your turn and the man next to you senses your presence and turns to look at you. As he turns in your direction, you see the long chestnut hair and are met with dark chocolate eyes. You’re immediately hit with the realization: Oh my god. It’s Jake.

He looks at you and offers a soft smile as a greeting. “Hi…” you manage to let out, looking up at him. “Hey,” he replies. You glance behind him and see the rest of the band. Oh my GOD. Greta Van Fleet is at my bar. You just stand there leaning against the bar for a moment looking at him, unsure of what to say next. You find yourself looking him up and down, analyzing what he’s wearing off the stage.

He has on a different pair of boots now, a light brown color. He's wearing some tattered blue jeans and a navy blue, long-sleeved button-up shirt, of which the top four buttons are undone, leaving his upper chest partially exposed. The lighting in the Tavern reflects off of it in such a mesmerizing way. You realize that you’ve been staring for far too long and go to say something, but luckily he beats you to it.

“Were you at our show tonight? I think I remember your face…” Jake says, looking into your eyes as though he’s piercing right into your soul, studying you. You feel stuck, though you’re not sure why. Up until today, you weren’t a fan of theirs and you wouldn’t have thought anything about this interaction at all whatsoever. So why were you so flustered? You finally work up the courage to answer.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I was there. It was… spectacular,” you say with a shy smile, finally meeting his gaze. He smiles back at you when your attention is suddenly pulled away by the sound of a loud voice coming from behind him.

“You really liked it? I’m so glad. I get so in my head sometimes, y’know, I was so nervous. So it’s lovely to hear that I didn’t totally crash and burn.” The man that you now understand to be Jake’s curly-headed twin reaches over the bar past Jake and extends his hand out to you. “I’m Josh, by the way,” he adds with a wide smile. You reach your hand out to shake his, in total shock that this is actually happening.

“Hi, Josh. I’m Y/N, which I was just about to tell your brother here…” you joke, making him realize that he’d accidentally interrupted something. He makes an “oh that’s awkward” kind of face and pulls at his collar, causing you to laugh. Jake watches as you interact with his twin with a look on his face that you can’t quite place. Like he’s trying to figure you out.

“Sorry about him, Y/N, sometimes he just speaks first and then thinks after,” you hear from further down the bar. You look up to see that voice coming from Sam next to him, who gets a shove from his older brother and erupts into contagious laughter. You watch Danny shake his head, chuckling, and you laugh along with them. Jake looks over at you, smiling. You smile back at him and he speaks up, drawing your attention back to him and him alone.

“What are you drinking, Y/N?” he asks. “Oh, um, a bourbon punch,” you answer. “Another bourbon punch for this lovely lady here, please,” he says to the bartender, “You can put it on my tab.” You look at him in shock and try to protest but he sees it coming, saying “No, I insist. As a thank you, for your support and for making my brother happy for a moment there with your compliment- he’s easy to please.”

He leans one arm onto the counter and smirks at you as the bartender places your drink down in front of you. “Cheers, sweetheart,” Jake says, raising his glass to yours. You glance down at the glass to see what he’s drinking, which seems to be whisky, neat. It suits him. You smile at him and say “Cheers” and take a sip of your fresh drink. His eyes are looking into yours so intently that it almost feels like they’re burning into you. Something about him is so intriguing yet slightly intimidating that you want to learn more.

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“Are you here alone?” he asks. “Oh, no, I’m here with a friend. She’s back there at our table.” Jake looks behind you to see Sophie, who has been intently watching this entire interaction unfold. He smiles and gives her a little wave to come over, so she stands up and comes up to the bar. “Would you both like to join us for a round? We have a larger booth upstairs with a few of our friends.” His eyes look down at you for an answer, waiting and hoping for a yes. Before you can answer, Sophie chimes in to answer for you, “We’d love to!” she says, elbowing your side to encourage you to agree and you nod along. “Yeah, sure, we can stay for a bit longer,” you reply, looking up at Jake, who seems satisfied with that answer.

The rest of the guys get their drinks and you follow them up the winding staircase to the large booth that they reserved. When you arrive at the table, you see a few other people waiting there whom you assume to be part of their management, security, and some personal friends. Danny and Sam slide in first to the left to join their friends and Josh goes for an open spot on the right side. Jake extends his hand out, offering for you to take a seat between them, and then slides in on the left next to you. Sophie opts to sit next to Sam on the end, across from you.

You both introduce yourselves to the rest of the group. Their friends seem unsurprised that they managed to make friends in the short time they’ve been in the bar. From the few minutes you’ve spent with them, you can tell that their social and charismatic tendencies would likely often lead to new friendships everywhere they go. It’s something you’re starting to admire about them.

As you’re getting to know the group, it’s impossible not to notice Jake’s eyes on you. He’s studying you as you speak, watching the way your lips move and admiring you. It’s difficult to ignore, though you try your best to. He starts speaking and you turn your head to look at him, taking the time to look him over as well. You look at his eyes, mostly, a mesmerizing dark chocolate color that turns into amber when the light touches them. His nose is straight and pointed, his lips look soft and full.

He catches you staring at him, just for a moment, and uses the opportunity to place his right hand on your knee, exposed by the large rips in your jeans, rubbing small circles on top of it. It makes you jump a little at first touch, startled by his actions. You couldn’t believe this was real life. You look up at him and you both lock eyes. It falls silent for a moment and Josh starts a conversation with Daniel across the table, everyone else engaging and chiming in. Jake takes this opportunity to lean into your ear a bit to talk to you on his own, which he’s been dying to do.

“I know you were watching me earlier, at the show…” he whispers in your ear, loud enough only for you to hear. Your heart nearly stops, but he continues. “It’s okay, you know, I don’t mind it. If anything, I kind of liked it,” he says, his breath feeling hot on your skin. “Maybe I was,” you answer shyly, turning your face toward him a bit so that he can hear you more clearly. Your eyes meet and you watch as his eyes quickly dart to your lips, then back up to look at you once more.

“I was watching you too,” he says, sliding his hand a bit higher above your knee, resting on your inner thigh, slightly gripping it. “Watching you study me… and how my fingers worshipped the strings…” he continues, leaning closer to your ear, his lips grazing lightly over it. Shivers run down your back and continue down toward your core, causing you to silently yearn for more. You inhale deeply, then ask “And what did you think about that, Jake?” saying his name in a honeyed tone, causing him to squeeze your thigh and look deep into your eyes, piercing through them. You knew exactly what he was thinking, but you wanted to hear him say it. You wanted to be absolutely sure that what you thought was about to happen was actually happening.

“Do you wanna go outside for a smoke, Y/N?” Jake asks, slightly loud enough so that the others can hear. Sophie looks at you, smirking; she clearly can tell exactly what’s going on. She nods at you, encouraging you to go. “Uh, yeah Jake, sure,” you mutter, a bit awkwardly. You weren’t expecting him to try and get you alone, you had felt all this time that he was just playing with you. It’s clear now, though, that this was not a game.

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He stands up from the booth and offers his hand to help you up as well. Despite the dark aura that surrounds him, he still appears to be quite the gentleman. You stand up from the booth, shoot Sophie a nervous look, and then turn around to head back down the stairs. Jake follows closely behind you.

You get to the bottom of the stairs and head to the back of the Tavern to go out the back door, to the smoking area. It’s an outdoor patio behind the bar, illuminated with low-lit string lights and decorated with some picnic tables with a few ashtrays. You exit through the door and turn around to face him as the door closes silently behind him. His eyes are darker now, piercing into you as he approaches you. You back up slowly until the backs of your legs hit one of the tables and then sit on the edge of it while Jake takes out a pack of Marlboro Reds and a black lighter from his back pocket.

He pulls a cigarette out of the pack, places it between his lips, and then brings the lighter up to light it. He takes a long drag out of it and blows it to the side, avoiding blowing any smoke in your face, then steps closer to you until he’s standing between your legs, only inches away from you. He puts the cigarette down to sit on the ashtray for a moment and he finally speaks.

“Y/N/ I can’t seem to stop thinking about you. You’ve captivated me from the second the lights turned up on that stage tonight. I haven’t been able to take my eyes off you…” he says, bringing his hand up to your cheek and running his thumb along your cheek. He’s watching your eyes, how they look up at him with anticipation, waiting for him. He can feel the power that he has over you.

“I can’t stop thinking about you either… Seeing you for the first time on stage tonight has caused you to completely take over my thoughts ever since. No matter how hard I tried to watch the others, my eyes kept getting drawn right back to you. It was like I couldn’t control it,” you say, glancing down at his lips and then back to his eyes longingly. “I don’t feel like I can control myself around you, baby… I’m being tempted to throw out all of my rules for you,” Jake says in a low whisper, bringing his face closer to yours.

Your eyes look up at his, pleading. He can’t hold himself back anymore, finally closing the gap between you. He kisses you so deeply that it takes the air out of your lungs. He leans into you and his hand that was once on your cheek grasps the back of your neck tightly, causing you to let out a quiet whimper. Just the sound of it lights a fire within him, he takes his other hand to hold your hip in place and groans into your mouth. You place your hands around his neck and pull him closer to you, your bodies now flush together.

Jake pulls away, his face still only a few inches from yours, and tries to catch his breath. His left hand squeezes your hip as the other leaves your neck in order to reach behind you to grab his cigarette, still lit. He takes a drag from it blowing it to the side, but keeps his eyes locked on yours and watches as you stare at his lips when he blows the smoke out. He takes note of your interest in the way he’s blowing the smoke and says, “Open your mouth.”

You immediately obey, knowing you’d do anything he asks you to, and open your mouth. He takes another drag of the cigarette and kisses you again, blowing the smoke into your mouth and you breathe it in as you lean into the kiss. This elicits another moan from him, clearly turned on by the act. He leans into you harder and bucks his hips into you slightly, trying to release some tension. You moan quietly into his mouth at the sensation, your desire starting to pulsate between your legs.

His lips leave your mouth and place kisses along your jaw then down your neck, causing you to let out a small sigh. “You don’t even know what you do to me, sweetheart,” Jake mutters against your skin. He brings his mouth back to yours and kisses you once more, but you pull yourself away.

“Jake… I want this. I want you, but… not now.” He looks disappointed by your words but backs away slightly, sliding both of his hands down to your waist. “I’m sorry, I just- I have this big exam tomorrow and I’ve already stayed out so much later than I ever even intended to. I have to go home.”

He nods his head in understanding, then it seems like a lightbulb lights up in his head. He smiles and says, “Come to the show tomorrow night, then. Please… I need to see you again. I want to see you front and center when I play.” You’re taken aback completely at his kind offer. You know you need to see him again too, and you’d like nothing more than to watch them perform again. You nod your head, “Oh, Jake. I would love to go. That’s so sweet,” you say, smiling bashfully. Jake’s face lights up at your answer, “It’s gonna be a great show, baby. You won’t regret it. I’ll have Jenn email you the tickets as soon as we get back to our hotel, one for Sophie too.” You thank him and place a soft peck on his cheek, causing a hue of pink to form there. You both go back inside and return to your friends upstairs.

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“Soph, you ready to go home?” you ask her. “I really gotta get up for this midterm tomorrow,” you explain to the others, who all nod and wish you luck. Sophie nods and says goodnight to everyone. Jake offers to walk you both out to the bus stop to wait for the bus to take you back to your apartment. Sophie goes to sit on the bench as you wait a bit behind with Jake.

He places a soft goodnight kiss on your lips and you hum into it and smile as he brings his hand up to cup your cheek. “Here, let me see your phone,” he says, taking it and typing in his phone number, putting his contact name as “Sir Jacob ⚔️”, which makes you giggle. “Text me when you make it home safe, sweetheart. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says with a smirk. “See you tomorrow, Jake,” you reply as he turns back to the front door of the Tavern. He turns back around and gives you a soft smile, and you wave goodbye before he goes back inside.

You turn around and sit down on the bench next to Sophie, who finally wants to know all of the details. The bus arrives and you fill her in on everything on the ride home, causing her to laugh and scream in excitement, much to the dismay of the other exhausted people who are on the city bus at one o’clock in the morning. You tell her that he’s sending you tickets for both of you to go to the next show tomorrow night and that he’s asking security to put you in the front row, which she is so psyched about.

You both finally arrive home and you take your makeup off, put some comfier clothes on, and collapse into bed. What a night, you think to yourself. It was nothing like you ever could have imagined. You turn over and plug your phone in, then open up the messages app and type in “Sir Jacob ⚔️”.

You: home safe <3

Sir Jacob ⚔️: Good. Sweet dreams, beautiful.

You: goodnight, jake

You place your phone down on your bedside table and flop down on your back, letting out a long sigh. You think about your exam tomorrow and the excitement that will come thereafter. You wonder where tomorrow night will lead you as you close your eyes and try to fall asleep. God, what have I gotten myself into?

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this story will be continued... comment to be added to the taglist! thank you so much for reading!

part two

[jakeyt]

☼ Fluff

☽ Angst

☆ Smut (18+ ONLY. MINORS DNI.)

Disclaimer: All of my works are absolutely, undoubtedly 110% a work of fiction. I do not claim to know Greta Van Fleet. I do not claim that any of this actually occurred. Again, these are complete works of fiction.

And, please, DO NOT steal my work, as it is 110% mine. Plagiarism is illegal. And, as our friend Google puts it, plagiarism is “illegal if it infringes an author’s intellectual property rights.” Being these words/ideas are my intellectual property rights…don’t take them. Legal action will be taken if you take credit for any of my work.

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Requests are OPEN!

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Covet (wip) ☽☆☼

(roommates + enemies to lovers)

Life was good. No, life was great. Was. Until. Jake Kiszka crashed into the picture. You welcomed him into your life—your home. Yes, he was your best friend’s twin. But, he was also the one who would end up disrupting your whole world with his attitude, his troubles, and the annoyingly natural way he lured you in. Jake Kiszka came with so much you really didn’t want. At least that’s what you tried to convince yourself.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Something ☆ (one-shot)

On a rainy day, Jake's Les Paul gives you an idea.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Bloodstream (wip) ☽☆☼

(vampire!Jake x witch!f!reader)

Folklore. Stories passed down through generations. Imaginations run rampant with their tales of sorcery and the supernatural.  But for Tommie, it was different. Somehow it was more. She had become transfixed by a local legend — one that told of an unlawful love affair between a witch and a vampire. To Tommie, it was an alluring tapestry woven with threads of forbidden love and timeless secrets.  Yet something about it felt strangely familiar to her—but why?  It was only a story…wasn’t it?

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

There’ll Never Be (Another You) (two-shot) ☽☆☼

coming soon!

(high school sweethearts + exes/enemies-to-lovers)

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Swim To Shore (one-shot) ☽☆☼ coming soon!

(strangers-to-pen pals-to-lovers)

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Freshly Brewed (one-shot) ☆☼ coming soon!

(strangers-to-friends-to-lovers)

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Coming soon! <3

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Distorted Hues ☽ (drabble)

Sometimes, you have to do a lot to try to get to the top. But things go downhill quickly when you try to explain to Danny why you do the things you do to get there. You had good reason for what you did, he just refused to understand.

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[the-last-tsar]

"Dynastic alliances were thus as much in the mind of the future King Edward VII as they were in that of the Kaiser, although Wilhelm's matchmaking ambitions had been part of a grandiose plan for the creation of a powerful new Zollverein - a continental alliance of Germany, Russia and France. Steering Alix of Hesse in the direction of Nicholas of Russia had been one way of shoring this up. Perhaps, in the wilder reaches of his vivid imagination, Wilhelm nursed visions of being another Frederick the Great, the Prussian monarch who had been instrumental in brokering the marriage of his German relative Sophie van Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg, and with it her rise on the Russian throne as Catherine the Great. The new Tsaritsa Alexandra would, however, never demonstrate any of Catherine's breadth of vision and energy as Empress. If anything, she inherited the prosaic, domestic Victorian values of her mother Alice - of example, duty, morality and a sense of service. But in one thing at least Alexandra would later demonstrate an instinct that she shared with her cousin Wilhelm: an entrenched belief in absolutist autocratic power. Wilhelm's mother, the Dowager Empress Victoria, had certainly hoped that her niece Alexandra's succession to the Russian throne in November 1894, on the sudden death of Alexander III, might foster improved relations between Russia and Germany. In the years up to 1908 Nicholas and Wilhelm made frequent visits to each other for army manoeuvres, reviews of the fleet or simply to enjoy the shooting at their respective hunting lodges in Prussia and the Russian imperial game reserves in Poland. They had even gone yachting together - the Romanovs on the imperial yacht, the Standart, the Kaiser on the Hohenzollern - at Kiel and around the Finnish skerries. But far too often the prickly, meddlesome Kaiser had succeeded in upsetting those around him. Despite this, in his letters to Nicky, Willy repeatedly assured him of his love and devotion; after all they shared the same fundamental belief in their divine right as sovereigns. "We, Christian Kings and Emperors have one holy duty imposed on us by Heaven,” he told Nicky. ‘"That is to uphold the principle “von Gottes gnaden" [by the grace of God].”

The race to save the Romanovs | Helen Rappaport

[bitter69uk]

Recently watched: psychological thriller The Morning After (1986). Tagline: “Last night she drank to forget. Today she woke up to a murder. Is he her last hope or the last man she should trust?” Dir: Sidney Lumet.

On Thanksgiving morning, washed-up, middle-aged alcoholic actress Viveca Van Loren (Jane Fonda) awakens with a thunderous hangover in an unfamiliar bedroom lying next to an unfamiliar man. (Her first line of dialogue: “What the fuck?”). She was black-out drunk and has zero recollection of the night before. Understandably, Viveca panics when she realizes her bed-mate is a corpse – with a bloody knife protruding from his chest! Is someone trying to frame her for his murder? Is she in danger? Turner Kendall (Jeff Bridges), a sympathetic ex-cop with problems of his own, seemingly offers Viveca a lifeline – and maybe a chance for redemption.

I hadn’t revisited The Morning After (currently streaming for free on YouTube) in many years. I love its atmospheric view of the underbelly of Los Angeles and Viveca’s life on the fringes of show business. (Befitting a fallen glamour girl, she resides in a frou-frou dusty rose apartment in a pink stucco Art Deco building). It probably succeeds best as a downbeat character study of the tentative budding romance between the unlikely duo of Viveca and Turner. Fonda slays, but it would be interesting to see how her peers Tuesday Weld or Faye Dunaway would interpret Viveca (in her broader moments, Fonda sometimes seems to be doing a Dunaway impersonation). And with a few minor tweaks it’s easy to imagine The Morning After making a great woman-in-peril noir vehicle for Crawford, Stanwyck or Davis in the 1950s (it recalls Davis as an ageing actress on the skids in The Star). The cast includes Raul Julia, Diane Salinger (Simone from Pee-wee’s Big Adventure!) and a fleeting appearance from an unknown young Kathy Bates. One nice detail: Viveca relies on loyal gay confidantes for support. On the lam and needing a change of clothes, she visits a drag queen friend. Before that, a sympathetic gay bartender (played by Bruce Vilanch!) comps her a free drink. Best exchange: Alex: “I was being groomed to be the next Vera Miles.” Turner: “Who?” Alex: “See! I was getting ready to replace somebody the public didn't even know was missing!”

[oliverreedmasterass]

Greta Van Fleet having their own Disney Channel show like imagine if they were brought up that way omg

Notes: EVERYONE GIVE ALEX (@jmkho) SO MUCH LOVE FOR THE INCREDIBLE TITLE, I LOVE IT WITH ALL OF MY HEART SHE'S SO UNBELIEVABLY TALENTED!!! AND ADDISON (@starcatcherkiszka) THANK YOU FOR THE PROMPT AND TALKING ME THROUGH THE PLAN FOR THIS FIC!! Much love to you both 🫶

Synopsis: In this pilot episode of a Disney Channel-esque show, the members of Greta Van Fleet all face their own personal challenges: Josh struggles with writer's block, Jake is convinced the studio is haunted, and Danny and Sam are in the midst of an intense prank war

Words: 5k (but it goes by fast since it's a script, trust me)

Warnings: ghosts/spookiness/hauntings, allusions to insanity, chimpanzees, James Hetfield

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The scene opens in the studio. Josh is pacing back and forth while murmuring to himself, Jake is perched on a stool with an acoustic guitar in his hand staring blankly at a wall, Danny is behind his drum kit attempting to twirl his drumsticks around, and Sam is sitting at his keys cradling an impressive cup of coffee. 

JOSH: I can’t believe this. 

JAKE: It’ll come to you, don’t worry. It always does. 

JOSH: No, it’s just, I don’t know. It feels different this time. Like, my brain isn’t coming up with anything. 

DANNY: I think the song you started writing about your rhinestones had potential. 

[Flashback to Josh brainstorming the rhinestone song]

JOSH: Twinkling, glittering, glimmering musical colors radiating on my face, my shining face, beaming at youuuuuuu…

[Cut back to the present]

Josh squints at Danny. It’s obvious he knows Danny is lying. 

JAKE: We have time before this song has to be done, Josh. No need to force it out. 

SAM: [to Jake] Actually I think he would work better under pressure. [to Josh] If we don’t finish this song in the next hour, I’m leaving the band. 

JAKE, DANNY: Sam! 

Josh drops to the floor and folds himself up in the fetal position with a moan. 

JAKE: Great idea, Sam. 

Jake sets his guitar down and squats next to Josh so he can place a comforting hand on his shoulder. 

JAKE: [to Josh] Why don’t we give you some space to work out the lyrics? 

Behind Jake and Josh, Sam takes a drink from his coffee and spits it out with a loud “BLEGH!” Everyone turns to look at him. 

DANNY: [cheekily] Burn your tongue? 

SAM: This tastes awful, like a salt lamp! 

JOSH: How do you know what a salt lamp tastes like? 

With a wide grin, Danny removes a handful of empty salt packets from his pocket and holds them up to Sam to see. 

DANNY: Gotcha. 

SAM: No! 

JAKE: Is this a part of your stupid prank war? 

SAM: It’s not stupid. 

DANNY: I’m beating Sam by a landslide. I only have to prank him three more times and then the crown will be mine. Sam, you have what? Seven more pranks? You’d think with two older brothers and all, you’d be a lot better at this. 

SAM: You haven’t seen my best pranks yet. 

DANNY: I’m hoping they’re better than drawing a banana on my drum kit. And my car. Actually, why do you keep drawing bananas on my stuff? 

SAM: It’s funny. 

DANNY: It’s annoying. 

Josh groans from the floor. 

JAKE: C’mon, Josh. Get up. 

Jake helps a limp Josh back to his feet and makes sure that he’s going to stand upright when he releases his grip on his shoulders. Josh looks dazed but stands vertically, which earns him a pat on the head from Jake. 

JOSH: I’m gonna get the studio to myself? 

JAKE: Yeah, we’ll give you some space to actually hear your own thoughts.

In the background, Danny crawls on his hands and knees to Sam’s feet where he proceeds to tie his shoelaces together. Sam is blissfully ignorant, giving his rank coffee another testing sip, which he spits out again. 

JOSH: Okay, yeah, hear my thoughts, good, yeah. 

Jake grabs his guitar and leads the way out of the studio, giving Josh a quick wave which Josh returns. Danny follows behind Jake and Sam stands to his feet, still unaware of his shoelaces. 

SAM: [whispering to Josh] Hey, give me a call if you need any help. 

JOSH: Thanks, I won’t. 

SAM: I’ve got some good ideas to motivate you to write something. 

JOSH: I don’t trust you. 

SAM: I’m only a phone call away. 

JOSH: Please leave the room, Sam. 

SAM: You’ve got it, brother. 

Sam starts to take a step forward and promptly tumbles to the ground with a thump. Danny and Jake pop their heads back into the room and start to laugh and taunt Sam, who is staring down at his feet in awe. 

SAM: DANNY! HOW? WHAT? WHEN? 

DANNY: [calling from outside the room] It’s too easy! 2 pranks to go! 

Sam grumbles, hastily unties his shoes, and then ducks out of the room, hanging his head in embarrassment. The door slams shut, finally engulfing Josh in silence. He closes his eyes and lets in a deep inhale, followed by a long exhale. He opens his eyes and sits on the floor next to a notepad and pen that had obviously been discarded in frustration earlier. 

Starcatchers Theme/Opening Titles

[acoustic theme song with a harmonica] 

From the fires we emerged anew, 

Singing, playing rock and roll, 

Reviving a genre just for you. 

Across the globe we traveled far

Recruiting an army of peace, 

Enchanting crowds with our guitar. 

A battle ensued at the Gardens Gate

And we preserved the gift of nature, 

Standing up against a culture of hate.  

We are the Starcatchers, reaching for the sky, 

Discovering words of wisdom to live by. 

We deliver a message from the heavens above:

Live your legend through the intelligence of love. 

[end theme] 

JOSH: [to the camera] It’s one song. Just a single song. What does it matter? People can never understand what I’m saying anyways, I could write literally anything. 

Josh immediately stares daggers at his notepad, deep in thought. His face is starting to turn red and his eyes bug out. He stops before his head explodes and throws himself on his back, staring up at the ceiling of the studio. 

JOSH: Nothing. 

Across the hall and a few doors down, Jake is in an empty studio, walking in circles while strumming his acoustic guitar. 

JAKE: [singing] What will we do with a drunken sailor? What will we do with a drunken sailor? What will we do with a drunken sailor ear-lay in tha mornin’! Way hay and up she rises, way hay and up she rises, way hay and up-

Jake is cut off by the sound of something scraping against wood. Jake’s face pales in fear and he whirls around in a quick circle, searching for the source of the sound. 

JAKE: I just wanna say, for the record, I can kick really, really hard. 

The scraping suddenly stops and Jake lets out a sigh of relief. Then, he catches a glimpse of a water bottle quickly jerking across a table in the corner of the room. It seems as though it moved on its own. In a blind panic, Jake drops his guitar and books it for the studio door. He jiggles and pushes on the handle to no avail. The door appears to be locked. 

JAKE: Ruh roh raggy.

Jake is breathing heavily now, well beyond the brink of panic, and starts to kick the door with all of his might. The threat he threw out earlier has some merit: he can kick really, really hard, but the door doesn’t budge. Jake squeezes his eyes shut and smacks his forehead.

JAKE: C'mon, brain. Give me something.  

Jake grabs hold of the door knob again. He twists the handle and tries pushing out, but the door is still sealed shut. Jake turns the knob again and pulls the door towards him. The door opens. 

JAKE: [staring at the door warily] You’ve got to be kidding me. 

Now free from the haunted studio room, Jake runs down the hallway as fast as he can, past Danny, who is sitting in the studio lobby. 

JAKE: Ghosts! 

Danny watches Jake run past and then, unbothered, looks back down at his phone. Behind him, Sam sneaks along the wall of the lobby like he’s in Mission Impossible, armed with two bananas. He creeps closer to Danny and can’t help but let out a soft laugh, which makes Danny turn around. 

DANNY: What’s going on? 

Sam quickly retracts both hands behind his back to hide the bananas. 

SAM: Nothing…

DANNY: What have you got behind your back? 

SAM: Oh, you know, stuff. Taxes. I have taxes. 

Before Sam can react, Danny springs to his feet, barrels towards Sam, grabs his arms, and tugs them out in front of him so Danny can see the two bananas. Danny and Sam both stare down at what’s in Sam’s hands, and then Danny shoots Sam a tired look. 

DANNY: More bananas? 

SAM: Hyah!

Sam tosses the two bananas at Danny’s chest so they hit him with a soft thump before dropping to the floor. Danny stares down at the bananas, expressionless. 

DANNY: You just bruised two perfectly good bananas. 

SAM: Pick them up, you’ll get the prank. It’s a really stellar one. 

Danny looks like he doesn’t want to, but he grabs the bananas and turns them around in his hands with his eyebrows arched. 

DANNY: Oh my god. You drew my car and drum kit on these? 

SAM: I’m on my A-game now, Daniel! 

Sam runs off, cackling loudly. Danny watches him go and shakes his head. 

DANNY: [to the camera] What does he think a prank is? 

Danny places the bananas on the lobby table and then sighs and walks in the direction Sam went, passing by the studio where Josh is currently holed up. In the studio, Josh is stationed in front of a whiteboard. 

JOSH: What story should I tell? What needs to be added to the Greta Van Fleet universe? [Speaking aloud as he writes on the whiteboard using a sharpie] I get carsick. No. Jake’s feet smell bad. No. Womb memories. No. European architecture. No. Argh! 

Josh launches the sharpie off to the side and it crashes against one of Danny’s cymbals. 

JOSH: This is impossible. I can’t do this by myself. 

Josh eyes a landline phone sitting in the studio. The screen splits in two as Josh calls James Hetfield, and he answers the phone. 

JAMES: Howdy, it’s the beast under your bed, in your closet, in your head. What can I do for ya? 

JOSH: Hey, quick question, do you ever have such a hard time writing a song that you want to pull your brain out of your head and play basketball with it? 

JAMES: Can’t say that I have. 

JOSH: Darn. 

JAMES: Want some advice? Don’t answer that. I’m gonna give it to you anyway. Write about the things that make your skin crawl, that make you shiver, that your brain actively avoids thinking about. That’s where your most complex emotions lay. 

JOSH: Eighteen wheelers. I’m certain they can’t see me when I’m driving next to them. 

JAMES: No, I’m talking about like the lowest of lows here. Think war, famine, plague, climate change, scary stuff. 

JOSH: Chimpanzees. Ooh, I’m getting shivers. I think it’s working, James!

JAMES: Oh, um, okay, get to writing then, Josh. I won’t keep you. 

With an air of triumph, Josh slams the phone down. 

Outside the studio, Jake is talking on the phone with a 9-1-1 operator. 

JAKE: I don’t think you understand what I’m saying, the water bottle moved. 

9-1-1 OPERATOR: No, I get what you’re saying. That’s not an emergency, sir. 

JAKE: Listen to me, the water bottle moved on its own. There’s something paranormal happening here, and I don’t want a poltergeist situation going down. Being sucked into a spooky closet is one of my top 10 fears. 

9-1-1 OPERATOR: I’m going to hang up. I have other calls to get to.

The line disconnects. Jake huffs and jams his phone back into his pocket. 

JAKE: How do they not have a paranormal sub-department? 

In the background in the parking lot of the studio, Danny tiptoes into frame with a marshmallow gun and a pair of goggles on. He scans the area and then crouches down, on the prowl, trying to find Sam. 

DANNY: [softly] Sammy, come out and play. I’ve got a little treat for you. 

Danny continues creeping around the cars and, as he moves past Sam’s Tesla, Sam jumps out of the trunk, decked out in a banana costume. 

SAM: [literally shouting] COME MISTER TALLY MAN, TALLY ME BANANA! 

DANNY: [shouting back] WHAT IS WITH YOU AND THE BANANAS? 

Sam reaches into his back pocket and retrieves a new banana, which he once again throws at Danny. 

SAM: How does it ‘peel’ to get pranked this hard, Daniel? 

Sam proudly removes himself from the trunk and stands in front of Danny, placing his hands on his hips with confidence. Danny can’t help but silently unload his marshmallow gun on Sam, pummeling him with mini marshmallows. Sam squeaks out in shock and ducks into a ball on the pavement. Danny continues until he’s out of marshmallows. 

DANNY: [down to Sam] One more prank to go. 

SAM: [coughing up marshmallows] You’ll never win. 

Jake runs over to his band members. 

JAKE: [still unbelievably on edge] There is something creepy afoot here. 

DANNY: I’ve told you before, Jake, the moaning sounds you keep hearing are coming from the experimental band’s sessions down the hall. 

JAKE: A water bottle moved right in front of my eyes. 

SAM: [mocking, from the ground] Ooh scary. 

Jake picks up a marshmallow from the ground and proceeds to chuck it at Sam. 

JAKE: [back to Danny] There’s a ghost in there and it’s upset that we’re invading its space. I’m gonna get sucked into a closet if I go back in there, and I can’t risk it. 

Danny and Sam exchange a glance. 

DANNY: I’ll go back in with you and show you that there’s nothing to worry about. 

SAM: And I’ll stay here because I really don’t care.

Danny shoots Sam a look and then guides a reluctant Jake back towards the studio. 

JAKE: Do you have any holy water on you? 

DANNY: I don’t think that works on ghosts, Jake. What do you think we’re up against here? 

JAKE: I want to be prepared for anything. 

Even though Jake is dragging his heels, Danny succeeds in pushing him through the front doors and guides him past the lobby, towards the “haunted” studio. Jake once again looks pale as a sheet. 

DANNY: See? Nothing supernatural going on here. Except you. God, you look like a ghost. 

JAKE: [whispering] I’m a ghost? 

DANNY: No, no, come on, show me the room where it happened. 

Jake starts to cautiously step towards the room when they hear Josh belting out lyrics down the hall. Danny and Jake stop in their tracks and listen. 

JOSH: Ooh! Ooh! Aah! Aah! Chimpanzee on my mind, coming near me, he’s by my side! 

Without uttering a word, it’s mutually agreed between Danny and Jake that they need to step in before Josh writes any more terrible lyrics. They both move to his studio door and storm in. Josh is sitting on a stool, shaking a tambourine, but stops when he notices them. 

JOSH: Something wrong? 

JAKE: What the hell are you singing? 

JOSH: [cautiously] The new song? 

DANNY: Chimpanzee on my mind? 

JOSH: You don’t like it? 

JAKE: Our album is called Starcatcher, Josh. Could you write about something a bit more on theme than apes? 

JOSH: [matter of factly] They sent a chimp to space.

DANNY: This is a good starting point, Josh. Maybe try to work with something a bit more abstract. How do chimps in space make you feel? 

JOSH: Confused. 

DANNY: Okay? Try to work off of that. 

JOSH: Yeah, yeah, okay. 

Josh shoos Jake and Danny out of the studio and looks back at his notepad with a sigh. Jake and Danny step out of the room and move back towards the haunted studio. Jake stands by the door, glued in place. Danny watches him. 

DANNY: Should I? 

Jake purses his lips and nods. Danny slowly pushes the door open and steps in first. Jake hesitantly follows behind him. Danny scans around. 

DANNY: Everything looks normal to me. 

Jake has peeled himself away from Danny and is stationed in front of the haunted water bottle, where all of his problems began. 

JAKE: [pointing a half centimeter to the right of where the water bottle is now sitting] It used to be here. But now it’s here. 

DANNY: Uh huh. 

JAKE: It jerked over on its own. I was nowhere near it. And there were weird scratching noises too. Maybe there’s something in the walls. 

DANNY: Like a squirrel? 

JAKE: Like a ghoul. 

DANNY: You know, what is a ghoul? 

JAKE: A force you shouldn’t reckon with. 

DANNY: I wish you could be a bit more specific sometimes. 

JAKE: I can’t help that I’m mysterious. 

DANNY: No, actually I do think that’s something you can help - 

A chilling sound fills the studio. 

MYSTERIOUS GHOSTLY VOICE: Oohhohohooooohhhhhoooooooooo

Jake screams and jumps into Danny’s arms. Danny instinctually catches Jake. The lights start to flicker.

JAKE: RUN, DANNY, RUN! BEFORE THE CLOSET OPENS AND TAKES ME!

DANNY: THERE’S NO CLOSET IN HERE, JAKE!

Danny runs out of the studio anyways and bumps into Sam, still dressed in the banana costume, in the hall. 

SAM: What’s going on? 

JAKE: [not making any sense] Water bottle and wood and oohhhooooohooohooo sounds and ghouls and spooky and closets and - 

SAM: Danny? 

DANNY: The studio is haunted. 

SAM: Oh, word. 

Jake squirms out of Danny’s arms and faces Sam. 

JAKE: You’re not freaked out? 

SAM: Why should I be? 

JAKE: Ghosts, Sam! They’ll get you! They’re always two steps ahead. 

SAM: Ghosts don’t have feet. 

JAKE: It’s an expression, Sam! 

Cut to Josh in his studio. Jake and Sam’s argument is muffled outside the door, but still audible. Josh sits back on the ground in front of his notepad and pen. 

JOSH: C’mere, lyrics, pspspsp, come to papa. 

This obviously does not work. 

JOSH: [tapping his pen on his chin] Maybe I’d be inspired by our old lyrics? Uhhh what’s a good one? Light My Love? Your mind is a stream of colors. Stream of colors, stream of colors, stream of co-lors. Stream of co…Hmmm. That’s it! A stream of consciousness! That should give me something to work with. 

Josh picks up his pen, suddenly filled with a new surge of energy, and starts to scribble on his paper. A montage of Josh writing in different dramatic angles plays with a song similar to Gonna Fly Now blaring in the background. He finishes writing and drops his smoking pen to the floor. 

JOSH: There. 

As if he’s dealing with an ancient relic, Josh carefully lifts the notepad up to his eyeline and carefully scans over what he wrote. 

JOSH: [reading aloud] All work and no play makes Josh a dull boy. All work and no play makes Josh a dull boy. All work and no play makes Josh a dull boy. Oh god! It goes on for four and a half pages! 

Josh crumples the pages into tight balls and eats them, removing the evidence. Josh approaches the glass panel separating the studio from the sound booth and looks at his reflection, jabbing his finger into his reflection’s shoulder. 

JOSH: No one can know about this, you hear me? No one! This is between you and me. 

JOSH’S REFLECTION: Whatever you say, boss. 

Josh shakes his head and backs away from his reflection. 

JOSH: Woah. [to the camera] I wonder if Carole King has to deal with this. 

JOSH’S REFLECTION: She doesn’t, but James Taylor does. 

Josh hops away from the glass in shock and returns to the whiteboard in a daze. 

JOSH: [to himself] It’s all in your head. 

He attempts to wipe his previous notes away, but it’s not working since he wrote them out in sharpie. Josh drops his arms in defeat. 

JOSH: What’s the point? 

Josh reassumes his spot on the ground in the fetal position. In the studio lobby, Jake is in a similar position on the sofa, staring down at his knees in muted shock. Sam is sitting next to him, still in the banana costume, awkwardly patting his legs. Danny enters back into the room and takes a seat across from Sam and Jake. 

DANNY: I didn’t hear any weird noises in any of the other studios. Well, actually, I think I heard Josh talking to himself, but that’s not out of the ordinary. 

SAM: [to Jake] Hear that? The spooky ghost is on vacation. 

JAKE: [softly] Ghosts can’t go on vacation. 

SAM: How do you know? Are you a ghost? 

Jake huffs but doesn’t continue to argue. 

SAM: [to Danny] One of the assistants brought in some smoothies if you want one, they’re pretty good. 

DANNY: Oh cool, thanks. 

Danny grabs one of the smoothies from the table and takes a long sip. Sam is staring at him, looking on the brink of laughter. Danny sets the smoothie down and eyes Sam. 

DANNY: What? 

SAM: Got you! 

DANNY: [paling] What? What did you do? 

SAM: I put a little extra something in your smoothie. 

Jake untucks himself out of his fetal position to watch the exchange between Danny and Sam. This is some interesting stuff. 

DANNY: Sam, what did you do? 

Sam, beaming wide, pulls out a banana peel and drops it on the floor in front of Danny. Danny looks down at it. 

DANNY: I don’t get it. 

SAM: I put a banana in your smoothie! 

DANNY: Are you being serious? 

SAM: Samuel Francis Kiszka does it again! 

JAKE: Sam, smoothies already have bananas in them. It’s literally one of the main ingredients.

DANNY: Oh thank god, I thought you put laxatives in there. 

SAM: The banana strikes again! I’m right on your tail, Daniel! 

JAKE: I don’t think putting a banana in a smoothie counts as a prank, Sam. 

Sam pouts. A bang and a crash comes from down the hall where Josh is. Jake springs to his feet in alarm. 

JAKE: Josh? 

Completely forgetting about his paralyzing fear of the haunted studio, Jake rushes down the hall to Josh. Danny and Sam trail behind him. Jake throws open the door to the studio and gapes at Josh, who is bashing a tambourine against the glass panel separating the studio from the sound booth. 

JOSH: Stop! Talking! To! Me! Get! Out! Of! My! Head!

JAKE: Josh! Our insurance doesn’t cover trashed studios! 

Josh continues banging on the glass. It’s as if he doesn’t realize Jake is there. Jake tries to turn Josh around to face him, but Josh doesn’t budge. From Josh’s perspective, he’s smacking his reflection with the tambourine while his reflection laughs and taunts him. 

JOSH: Your treacherous ridicule will never break me! 

Danny rushes to Josh’s side and drenches him with a bucket of ice water, finally snapping Josh out of his spell. He stumbles back from the glass a few steps and then holds at his head and grunts. 

JOSH: [dejected] I didn’t write the new song. I got distracted. 

SAM: Yeah, obviously. 

Josh looks Sam down in his banana costume. 

JOSH: Did Danny and Jake tell you about my chimpanzee song? Did you like it or something? Is this an act of solidarity? 

SAM: Wait, you wrote a song about chimpanzees? 

JOSH: James Hetfield told me to write about something that scares me. 

SAM: And you wrote about chimpanzees? 

JOSH: He shot down my idea about eighteen wheelers. 

Sam doesn’t know how to respond to this. 

JOSH: I’m sorry, you guys. I’m just not getting inspired in the right way. I don’t know if the lyrics are ever gonna come to me. 

DANNY: Hey, they will. It just takes some time. 

JAKE: I say we call it quits for the day. I wanna get out of here. 

JOSH: [finally taking in Jake’s face for the first time] You look like you saw a ghost. What’s up with you? 

JAKE: [whispering] That’s exactly what happened to me. 

JOSH: Okay, yeah, let’s get out of here. 

Jake and Josh move for the door but then stop when they realize Sam and Danny aren’t following behind them. 

JOSH: You guys coming? 

SAM: We’ll be right behind you, just give us a second. 

Jake and Josh shrug and leave Sam and Danny behind. They move down the hallway and, when they pass the haunted studio, clawing noises sound inside the door. Jake and Josh exchange a terrified look. 

JOSH: Is that? 

JAKE: Yeah. 

They’re both stuck in place, staring at the door in fear. The door starts to thump and spooky sounds come from inside the room. Before Jake or Josh can react, two sets of hands pop out of the door and drag them into the room. 

JOSH: Oh mama! 

Jake and Josh are standing in the dark as the door slams shut behind them. 

JAKE: Josh? 

A bunch of crashing noises sound and Jake lets out a yelp. 

JOSH: Sorry, I tripped over something. 

Jake fumbles for his phone and turns the flashlight on. Across from him he can see a panic-stricken Josh, his eyes darting around looking for danger. Jake slowly moves the flashlight around the studio, taking in the empty space, and then lets out a holler when he sees a shadowed figure standing in the corner of the room. Josh sees what he’s looking at and screams as well. 

JOSH: It’s a chimpanzee! 

JAKE: What? No, it’s a vengeful spirit! 

The shadowed figure starts to slowly move closer to them and Jake and Josh embrace in a tight hug, screaming. 

JOSH: [shrill] Stay back! 

JAKE: I’m gonna kick you so hard in the gonads! 

The shadowed figure stops about 20 feet away from Jake and Josh. 

SHADOWED FIGURE: [in a large and booming voice] Jacob Thomas Kiszka and Joshua Michael Kiszka! 

Jake and Josh scream at the top of their lungs, still hugging. 

SHADOWED FIGURE: You have continually trespassed on my territory. You must face a reckoning for your carelessness. 

JOSH: Would a simple sorry suffice? 

SHADOWED FIGURE: NO! 

Jake and Josh cower further. 

SHADOWED FIGURE: You must go through the spooky door to another dimension. 

JAKE: Oh god, no! Anything but that! 

The door to the studio flings open on its own. Strobe lights and smoke flood into the studio from the door and Jake and Josh shield their eyes in fear. They both back up against the wall farthest from the door.

SHADOWED FIGURE: Whatever you think is beyond that door, it’s worse. 

JOSH: [whispering to himself] Eighteen wheelers. 

SHADOWED FIGURE: Three…

JOSH: Oh god not a countdown. 

SHADOWED FIGURE: Two…

JAKE: What do we do? 

SHADOWED FIGURE: One…

JOSH: It’s been nice knowing you, little bro. 

Jake whirls to face Josh. 

JAKE: By five minutes! 

SHADOWED FIGURE: Zero! 

Sam jumps between Jake and Josh, still in his banana costume. 

SAM: IF YOU OR A LOVED ONE HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH MESOTHELIOMA - 

Jake and Josh jump about 4 feet in the air. 

JAKE AND JOSH: AAAAAAUUUGHHHHHHHHHH!!!

The lights to the studio flick back on and Jake and Josh are greeted by the sight of Sam and Danny standing in front of them, laughing hard. Danny is wearing a cloak, revealing him to be the shadowed figure. Jake pushes out of Josh’s embrace and storms up to Sam and Danny. 

JAKE: You need to start explaining yourselves now. 

Sam puts his hands up, guilty as charged. 

DANNY: I thought Sam was easy to prank, I guess it’s actually all the Kiszkas. 

SAM: It’s amazing what a voice changing microphone and some strobe lights can do. 

DANNY: And a fishing line. 

JAKE: A fishing line?

Sam moves over to the haunted water bottle, steps behind the piano, and tugs on a string, making the bottle lurch to the side. Jake stares, dumbfounded. 

JAKE: It was all you? 

Sam and Danny share a glance. 

DANNY: I mean, yeah. 

JAKE: Why I oughta…

Jake moves his foot back, ready to kick Sam and Danny with all of his might when Josh speaks up, capturing all of their attention. 

JOSH: I felt like such a massive chicken back there. But I think I finally understand what James was trying to tell me. I’m terrified of the unknown, of a feeling of hopelessness, where everything is crashing and burning around you, but you have to try and hold things together.  

SAM: My god, he’s doing it. 

Josh is already booking it back to his studio. 

JOSH: The lyrics are coming! They’re crowning! 

Jake looks back and forth between Danny and Sam like he still really wants to kick them, but ends up shaking his head and following behind Josh. Josh needs supervision in the studio moving forward - he can’t be left alone anymore. 

SAM: That was one hell of a prank, Danny. 

DANNY: I’m glad we could team up against Jake and Josh. They need a little humbling from time to time. 

SAM: I couldn’t have said it any better. 

Sam clasps Danny on the back and then motions towards the door. 

SAM: Wanna watch Josh’s creative genius at work? 

DANNY: I do like it when he yells, “BAJABULE!” every time he gets down a verse. 

Danny walks past Sam and moves through the door. Sam happily follows behind him. When Danny turns into the hallway, he subtly drops the banana peel that Sam had thrown in front of him earlier. Sam doesn’t notice and steps on it, slipping backwards and falling with a loud THUD. 

DANNY: Victory, baby!! 

SAM: [dramatically groaning from the ground] What a tragic end to a war. 

DANNY: Eat it! 

Danny does an impressive victory dance over Sam, who is still sprawled on the floor in defeat. Transition to Josh, Jake, Danny, and Sam playing The Falling Sky in the studio. As the song finishes, they all come together. 

JOSH: For a while there, I really thought I would never be able to write a song again.  

DANNY: We’ve got a real winner on our hands. You know, like me. 

SAM: Drop it, Daniel. 

DANNY: I think you owe me something, Sam. 

Sam grumbles but takes his bass off, retreats to the side of the studio, and returns with a crown made out of bananas. He brings it to Danny and places it on his head. 

SAM: [emotionless] I hereby pronounce you, Daniel Jean Louise Marie Wagner, King of the Pranks. All hail the king. 

Jake approaches Sam and Danny. 

JAKE: As a congratulations, I would like to extend my foot into both of your shins. 

As Jake is about to do this, the lights in the studio flicker out. 

JOSH: The same joke twice isn’t very funny, guys.

JAKE: I didn’t think it was that funny the first time around. 

DANNY: We didn’t do anything. 

SAM: Yeah, that wasn’t us. 

Chimp noises sound around the dark room. The band screams. 

END OF EPISODE

[gxbtx]

How Tyler, The Creator Continues to Infiltrate our Childhoods and Hearts

Austin, Tx, October 7th

Three years ago I attended Austin City Limits for the first time in my life. ACL was a tradition with my parents semi-annually growing up, with some of my earliest memories seeing The Eagles at Zilker park around age four. In 2021, there was an undeniable plethora of great artists, such as Miley Cyrus, 070 Shake, Greta Van Fleet, and Tyler, The Creator. ACL in 2021 was one of my first musical experiences as a teenager that I genuinely connected with, leaving a lasting impact on how I spend my time and money.

Tyler was an eye-opening experience to what a live setting of music has to offer. Tyler’s energy and dedication to his craft was shown on the grand Ladybird Stage with an extension of his Call Me If You Get Lost tour. Tyler played several tracks of Call Me If You Get Lost to perfectly pair with his stage props of expensive trunks and a speedboat. It was an honor to be properly introduced to his most recent album, as I didn’t fully understand the emphasized hip-hop elements near and dear to Tyler that made it such a great project. Tyler’s presentation of luxury and success leave him in a clear position to convey his lack of care to others who may have doubted his ability, which is heard throughout his boastful yet admirable confidence in CMIYGL. Even with the hundreds of thousands of people cheering him on he still managed to get away with poking fun at many demographics of his audience, with his charm and fame making the remarks go right over their heads.

A crucial aspect of the musicianship and the importance of performance was found in my first pit experience. Tyler’s shows are so great because he considers the live performance a core aspect of how he intends his music to be perceived. Such as one of his favorites, “NEW MAGIC WAND” from IGOR, the song took a few years to catch mainstream attention as he specifically curated the song to be enjoyed in a pit experience. Additionally, being so close to the artists removes the awkward unspoken barriers with others surrounding, connecting sweaty people together through the common denominator of love for his songs. Rarely do I see so many people singing the same songs with so much heart and passion, one after the other, representing the impact Tyler has on my generation. Ever since seeing Tyler up close, I’ve come to understand and appreciate the aspect of supporting musicians by going to Live shows, giving them a chance to present their life’s work to the audience the way they intend.

With all of this in mind, you could imagine my excitement to revisit Tyler’s catalog at the same stage three years later. Nearing the end of my teenage years, seeing Tyler for a second time brought me a sense of nuanced conceptualization of how Tyler has brought super star status to his career. Tyler started off his desert themed set with some bars unfamiliar to the crowd, ‘“what’s that gun name,” showing me Tyler’s contribution to the alive and well hip-hop resurgence within the past year. He returned with his classic stage presence utilizing his last decade of experience to show how a true professional does a festival set. At this point of his career, he was able to turn his numerous hits into a fresh DJ set in a sense, showing refinement and improvement from one track to the next. Along with this he brought his same moshing and intense energy to the pit that was insulting yet funny years prior. It was humorous to again see individuals who were not ready for the chaotic running around and moshing, with many people remaining from the previous set of Chappell Roan. He joked that he’s now at the age (~30) where something aches, reminding the crowd that he’s been himself in the public eye for the past 14 years or so, cementing him as an integral part in our generation’s music taste.

I really enjoyed seeing Tyler again as he serves as a subtle reminder that despite the ever increasing subdivisions of internet culture, there are still huge artists bringing entire generations of people together. I genuinely at this point in my life feel like I’ve grown up listening to Tyler, which can be said for millions of fans around the country. It feels full circle that my sibling is now eagerly awaiting the new Tyler project coming out soon, illustrating the recurring theme of the obsession with Tyler’s experiences he creates in music. Revisiting the screaming crowds hashing out every lyric in some of his most influential songs is a testament to the power music has, as Tyler’s anti-hero persona towards his fans who treat him like messiah himself still manages to bring out hundreds of thousands diverse souls to flock to what he has to show. His hard work and envelopment of becoming a music nerd is something I think is so inspiring, to me and others alike, fostering the energy to keep creativity alive and well.

[loveisonaroll]

Major Confusion, Part 1

A/N: this story originally started in my head with a Zillow posting for a beautiful home in downtown San Antonio…I'm not sure how I feel about this one yet, so let me know what you think.

Summary: A misunderstanding at a party you and Jake host to celebrate the end of tour ends in some heartbreak.

Warning(s): angst, some self-image comments, self-hatred, slight toxic behaviors, panic attack.

Word Count:1780 

---

You were anxious and excited all at once as you pulled the last curler from your hair. Today, you would celebrate the end of Greta Van Fleet’s Dreams of Gold tour at the home you and Jake finally had made your own. When he first suggested buying a home in the city you had based your career, you vehemently resisted. You had always imagined having to eventually give up your job for a new one in Nashville to be with Jake, and you couldn’t see why he would want to give up his favorable location for yours. As resistant as you had been, Jake was more persistent and ultimately won the war when he found the most perfect home for the two of you. 

The home was a large, tudor style structure with just enough modernism to make its old character functional. You and Jake had spent months finding the right furniture and art to bring out the home’s vintage charm, and you refused to host any sort of gathering until it was as close to perfect as you could get. After seeing the home decorated through Facetime calls and pictures exchanged over text, Jake would get to see the home in all its glory for the first time in person, and there was one room that you hadn’t fully disclosed to him what new additions you had made. 

Since the night before, Jake had been strangely absent from your phone screen. His flight had been delayed the day before, so he and his brothers were set to get in a mere couple hours before the party. He usually bombarded your phone with “can’t wait to see you” messages while he was on his way home to you, but you figured he was just too exhausted and ready to be home this time. You were too busy party-prepping to dwell on it, anyways. You wanted everything to be perfect for Jake, his family and his friends. 

You were just sliding on your last shoe when you heard the front door open and muffled conversation. A smile broke out on your face as you bounded down the stairs to greet your rockstar boyfriend and his brothers. You were excited to see Jake after months on tour, and you wore your newest sun dress that accentuated your boobs just right. You had been saving it for him for weeks. 

“Welcome home, baby!” 

Jake turned towards you and gave you a soft smile, kissing your cheek and wrapping his arms loosely around your frame as you tightly embraced him. “Hey babe. House looks great.”

You furrowed your brows at his bland tone as you pulled away, but the doorbell rand before you could question him further. Jake excused himself to answer the door and you turned to his brothers. They had made their way to gather around the kitchen island, grazing at the snacks you had set out. That was strange, you thought. Jake hadn’t even taken a second look at you, let alone comment on how great you looked in your new dress. You shook the thought out of your head and headed to greet the rest of the band. 

“Hey guys, welcome home! Congratulations on a great tour!” you beamed, bouncing around the kitchen giving them each hugs. The lackluster responses you were given confused you, but you assumed they were all just exhausted from tour and the travel delays. 

As you took the coverings off the rest of the food on the island, Jake and a few of his friends trickled into the kitchen. Everyone seemed to have more of a jovial reaction to seeing each other than they did seeing you, and your heart ached. You started to feel more confused, thinking back to any possible thing you had done to make any of them angry with you. The more you thought, the more you were confused. 

“The house looks great, Y/N. I love all the furniture!” Amanda, one of Jake’s friends’ wife said to you. Amanda was nice, but you could never really get a true reading of her. You had been dating Jake for almost four years, and you have known him for years before that. She had become close friends with Jake’s ex-girlfriend, and when he started dating you a few months after their breakup, she was less than subtle about her disappointment. Still, she was always polite. 

“Thanks,” you said just as the doorbell rang again. “I’ll get it this time, baby.”

When you opened the door, you were left confused. Jake’s ex, Hailey was on the other side with a small smile as she stared at you.  

“Oh, umm hi?” you stammered. You were around when Jake started dating Hailey, and you had always enjoyed her company before. However, you hadn’t seen much of her after their breakup, and when you did, it was at events where neither you nor Jake knew she would be in attendance. 

“Hey, Y/N, how are you?” she said, stepping over the threshold. “The house is beautiful from the outside. Jake said you’ve been working hard on the inside.”

You cocked your head slightly to the side in response to her statement. When had she spoken to Jake? He never mentioned inviting Hailey, and you thought he would have run his invitation by you first. As if he had been summoned, Jake appeared by you, wrapping Hailey in a hug before tugging her towards his group of friends. 

To say you were baffled would be a complete understatement. Jake completely ignored you, embraced her tighter than he had you when he first arrived, and tugged her to socialize with his friends right in front of your very eyes. You were frozen in place, desperately trying to comprehend what was happening. You felt like your relationship had vaporized in a matter of seconds. 

When you finally defrosted, you put on a fake smile and tried to socialize a little as more people shuffled into your home. Jake hardly looked your way throughout the party, and his brothers and friends did little more to include you in any conversation. The less anyone talked to you, the more you started to spiral. Why was everyone ignoring you? What had you done to make everyone so angry at you? Why did everyone hate you?

The further down the rabbit hole you got, the more you watched Jake talk with Hailey. He hadn’t been more than 5 feet from her the entire afternoon, and his mood looked instantly lighter from your perspective with her around. Then you started watching her…the way her hair curled perfectly and shone in the sunlight. How much thinner she was than you. How little makeup she needed to wear to look flawless. How effortless it was for her to gain the attention of everyone in the room. How effortless it was for her to steal the attention of Jake. 

Before you could let the tears fall, you made your way to your boyfriend. Maybe now was a good time to steal him away to show him your surprise. 

“Hey Jake,” you smiled and touched his arm. His smile fell as he turned his attention to you, and you ignored the pang in your heart from the action. “I wanted to show you something. I did something to your office—” 

“My office? Seriously?” Jake pulled his arm out of your grasp with a sigh to run his hand through his hair. “I let you decorate the rest of my house, what more did you possibly need to do?” 

You were taken aback by his crassness and took a step away from him. His friends cleared their throats and turned away awkwardly. 

“What?” You said softly, shocked that he had spoken to you in such a way. Jake had never so much as raised his voice at you in the entirety of the time you had known him. Even when the two of you would get into arguments before your relationship, he had always been the reasonable one. 

“Honestly, I just can’t handle…this right now.” Jake waved his hand towards you dismissively before stalking off to rejoin his brothers and their group of friends. 

You didn’t think you could have been more confused and heartbroken. Not only had Jake dismissed you so aggressively, but he had also referred to the place you had spent so much time making your home as his home. Not belonging to the both of you, but to him. 

You quickly hid your face from your guests and made your way up the stairs. When you stepped foot into your shared bedroom, you stood in the middle not knowing what to do next. This wasn’t your home, you thought. Jake had said so himself, this was his home. Nothing here was yours. You were silly to think this would be your forever home. Why had you given up your apartment? Jake had never told you this would be your home forever. In fact, had he even asked you to move in with him? He had given you the go-ahead to decorate the house. He allowed you to decorate the house for him. This wasn’t for you. This wasn’t your home. You would never be home here. 

Your head swarmed with doubts, self-hatred, confusion and anxiety. The tears flowed freely, and your breathing became erratic. You truly had nowhere to go in the house, it wasn’t yours. You didn’t feel welcome or safe. You wracked your brain for a place to go, someone who would hold their door open for you, but your friends had moved away after college. You were too embarrassed to face your co-workers. It was too late to drive the four hours it would take to get to your parents home. Finally, you settled on a hotel room. 

You packed a bag and wiped your face. You would come back for the rest of your things, you thought. Then you would try to get your old apartment back and you and Jake could make it work again. It had to be the house, you thought. But what if he didn’t want you at all? What if he invited Hailey because he was pushing you out to bring her back in?

You almost stumbled as you raced down the stairs and towards the door. You only had to hold your breath for a second to get past the doorway to the main room/kitchen before you could make your escape. As you opened the front door and took a breath, you were met with Jake’s sister with her finger on the doorbell. The chime rang out before you could stop her, and Jake rounded the corner seconds later. 

[kquil]

I’ve never done a request before so tell me if i do something’s wrong! this is for the picnic event, 🧁 since i’m self centered 🤫.

I love love music my favorite bands are Queen, Kiss and Greta Van Fleet. I only know how to dress in winter and fall and i usually dress in a sort of dark academia style or like a rockstar🫢. My favorite food is Pasta Carbonara. I have a longer pixie cut. I’m short like i’m literally 5’1 (155cm). I’m usually really sarcastic but i have a hard time picking up sarcasm. I have a small collection of records and old tea cups. I like art and i play the bass guitar!

that’s all i can think of sorry if it’s too much or too ramble-y 😅 also take as long as you need you probably get lots of requests so don’t feel rushed or anything

haha! it's healthy to be a little self-centred, don't worry (≧▽≦)

from your description, i can see you as being sirius's equal and since im a wolfstar shipper, im shipping you with remus lupin!

i. he loves your dark academia and rockstar style too, often, in the winter, the two of you end up accidentally wearing matching outfits whenever you decide to wear something dark academia-esque, only remus was the light academia version of your outfit XD

ii. he appreciates your love for music, he commends your immaculate taste and works hard to save up on getting concert tickets for your favourite artists as a date

iii. he loves how short you are because he thinks its a great combination for you to have with your sarcasm - he loves your mind for the way it works, your sarcastic remarks make him laugh often

iv. there was one time where somebody made fun of his scars, something along the lines of 'i can't believe he has scars all over his face, must be hard to attract any of the birds lookin' that hideous' and you remarked 'oh, like your face is any better, Duncan - a mountain troll gets more girls than you' - from that day on, you're his hero

v. he finds your collection of records fun and interesting to look through, he likes listening to them with your permission and he finds your collection of old tea cups something so adorable about you - it's something he doesn't expect but really loves about you

vi. he likes listening to you play the bass guitar while he reads and since he also plays bass guitar in my headcannon of him, whenever he plays his bass guitar, you like to do your art - you two are just very cute like that

vii. sometimes remus would get jealous of how in sync you and sirius are but understands that it's only because you two are just similar in interests and style ⏤ he does get a little clingy to you though, in the most adorable way! he would just wrap around you from behind and bury his face into your hair for attention, sirius would see this, smirk and back off but not before teasing you two 'oh! sorry about that moony! she's all yours! and you be gentle with him okay? moony needs to be treated preciously!'

viii. something really cute is that remus learns how to cook carbonara for you just the way you like it and that ends up being the only thing he knows how to cook, he also memorised all the restaurants that you like the carbonara of so that when you go out, he knows where to go when you're craving it

ix. remus also likes to play with the ends of your hair, the ones that brush against the back of your neck when you're seated between his legs while he reads his book behind you. at least, he tries to read his book, he just finds the little hairs on the back of your neck really adorable and ends up playing with them ⏤ if your neck is sensitive this will trigger a little tickling session that ends with you both laughing

x. he also tries to learn french to that he can understand you and sirius when you're talking smack about slytherins in class, which often makes him chuckle as well, he also learns it so that he can express short romantic phrases to you in french because 'french is the language of love'

xi. honourable mention: i lowkey ship you with James ⏤ i imagine he can't notice sarcasm either so it's an adorable trait you both share so in first meeting, he isn't deterred by your sarcasm at all. he thinks you having short hair is cool but also likes to imagine you with long hair and gushes about how you look good with long and short hair! he doesn't know french but memorises je t'aime to say to you often and he just stares at you dreamily whenever you talk in french like a lovesick fool, even if you could be saying the meanest and nastiest things or screaming angrily at someone in french

[nickgerlich]

It's A Bird...It's A Plane

It’s great to be a visionary, an innovator who pushes the needle to levels no one thought possible. Some may scoff and laugh, but once the concept takes off, support tends to come in large amounts.

It’s just that sometimes the visionary is not the implementer. While you’re busy innovating and envisioning, others may very well be watching, waiting in the wings to deploy your concept before you can.

And that is the case with drone delivery, a concept famously made public by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in a 60 Minutes interview in late 2013. The reaction was noted across the board, from supporters to tech critics to naysayers making fun. As of May 2023, Amazon had made only 100 drone deliveries.

But Walmart has been working overtime on drone delivery, having tested it in select locales across the US. Last fall it launched a larger pilot program in north Dallas suburbs, allowing for deliveries within a six-mile radius of two stores that acted as hubs. GPS coordinates allow Walmart to dial in a precise location, like the middle of your front yard.

And now it is pushing that program out to include 75% of the entire DFW Metroplex. The expansion adds 1.8 million more households to the delivery footprint. With nearly eight million people living in the Metroplex, this means that about six million will be able to enjoy the latest mode of delivery.I wonder how that is going over with Mr. Bezos and the Amazon folks.

Of course, drone delivery necessitates professional land-based technicians and a slew of FAA hurdles to pass. I can only imagine how crowded the air space—albeit not very high—is going to be. And never mind that they will have to be extremely careful to avoid flight paths at DFW Airport, Love Field, and every other airport in the Metroplex.

The goal of drone delivery is not to put delivery van drivers out of work. No, it is to get the goods to customers as fast as possible. And that enormous fleet of dark grey vans owned by Amazon also gets stuck in Dallas traffic like everyone else. The same goes for anyone else doing terrestrial delivery. Flight also means as-the-crow-flies mileage, not city streets that are typically laid out on a grid.

When you can fly over those vans stuck in gridlock, it’s not a whole lot different from being willing to pay about $1 a mile at peak times to drive in the express lanes. Waving as you go by, of course.

There are societal benefits to the drones, because, while they necessarily need to have their batteries recharged—and we don’t know yet whether this will involve renewables or not—they won’t be burning gasoline and contributing to air pollution. They also will help alleviate some traffic, both for consumers who not need to venture to the store, or delivery vans.

Of course, there’s always room for mistakes and mishaps, like porch pirates stealing the delivery from your front lawn, or an unleashed dog taking a liking to your package. And there are weight considerations. Don’t expect to have a 46-pound bag of dog food delivered by drone, or a case of beer. Drone delivery is limited to lightweight items.

But think about the other benefits. You’re having guests over for a special dinner, and halfway through meal prep you realize you forgot a few things at the grocery. You can order and keep working, knowing that those missing items will arrive shortly.

Walmart has conducted more than 20,000 drone deliveries thus far, and now that they have it dialed in, they are ready to deploy it on a large scale. The DFW Metroplex is the fourth-largest metro in the US, evidence that Walmart’s drone delivery is ready for prime time.

Prime. Now there’s a word that Amazon knows well. It’s going to have to up its game if it wants to maintain ownership of that one.

Dr “Look…Up In The Sky!” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[infisonicosm-moved]

Putting this under a read more bc it's gonna be long, TLDR; I love TBAGG, Greta Van Fleet, and I'm overwhelmed about this new era.

TW: Mentions or religion, death, personal experiences with the baptist church, my pouring out everything I've delt with since 2020 cause I need to let it all out.

I'm feeling so many emotions right now and I'm having trouble processing it all. I knew TBAGG was deep but after listening to Meet The Master I'm not reflecting on how deep that album really goes.

There's a new level of pain mixed with strands of falling in love. It's like I'm seeing the story of the album in 4k now.

When I first discovered GVF I was in the early stages of my deconstructing process as a Christian. I'd just recently made the decision to leave the church and really focus on myself and make my spiritual journey something more personal. The church I attended thrived off of taking people's testimonies and making them a an example. Stealing away the personal aspect of a testimony and molding it to be a sermon. That's why I was so drawn to Stardust Chords, cause I experienced it first hand. That song spoke to me the most after experiencing what I have.

Nothing and nobody can take away how I feel God has personally spoken to me though through Greta. I don't talk about my spiritual beliefs a lot as I don't want to make it seem like I'm shoving it down someone's throat. But, I would love to share this with you all.

in 2019 leading up to 2020 I felt drawn to pray to God to prepare my heart and strengthen me before I attended a 3 day conference called Passion. I didn't know why but I prayed and prayed and i felt so at peace about it. I've never felt closer to God. Passion is held at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta so just imagine a stadium PACKED with over 60,000 people worshipping the Lord. It was such a powerful thing. The whole trip I was telling my church group, "They're gonna open the dome I can feel it!" and they would all shoot me down, "They won't", "do you know how much it would cost them to do that? they aren't gonna open it!". After a while I let it go cause maybe they were right.

Well, when Kari Jobe and her husband Chris Carnes came on stage to perform, I was into it, totally drawn in. I feel a tap on my arm from my friend and he tells me to look up, as soon as I did I was hit with the BIGGEST gust of wind that could have rushed through that stadium, it was cold but comforting. It wasn't windy in the slightest that day, but above me was an open dome and a beautiful blue sky. I was moved to tears and so was everyone around me. We felt it, we knew what we'd just experienced.

Later that evening I open instagram to see a post from Kari that I'll link for you all. I was floored and had a new wave of tears flow through me. God heard me. He heard my prayers and he communicated that to me in those moments.

Kari's Instagram post

Little did I know that God was preparing my heart for all the stress and pain I was yet to endure. Days after I get pack from Passion, my Grandaddy is taken to the hospital, upon arrival we see my Great-Aunt there in the ER waiting to be admitted. They were both on the same floor so it made it easy for family to go back and forth. My Grandfather had an ulcer in his stomach, the cauterized it and clamped it. The problem was he couldn't eat anything till he passed the clamp and that could take up to two weeks.

After he started aspirating into his lungs, they ultimately told us there was nothing else they could do and it was time to call in hospice. I felt my world crashing down around me. My Grandaddy was basically my Dad. He stepped up to the plate when my Dad left and helped raise me. A few days after we moved him to Hospice, we heard that my great-aunt had blood clots on her lungs and wasn't going to make it. She passed at 3 am the following morning, my Grandaddy passed almost 8 hours later in Hospice. I had to watch him starve to death, it was the more horrifying things and I'd never wish it on anyone.

Nothing can prepare you for the pain of watching someone you love so much slowly fade away.

That was only January! In February I planned my Grandaddy's funeral and we had his celebration of life. I don't remember much of it since I was under such a thick cloud of grief and depression. Days later, my friend Terra passes away from child birth complications. I'd known her since I was 15, we basically grew up together despite just being online friends. She was like a big sister to me and I admired her so much. I still miss her so bad and wish I had her still to reach out to. She always knew how to comfort me best.

Please stick with me I promise Greta ties into this hell.

In March I was sexually assaulted and almost raped. And then the world shut down cause of covid. Let's just say I'm surprised nobody Baker Acted me.

In 2021, my Uncle passed. He stepped up after my Grandaddy passed to be there for me and I'll forever be grateful to him. The last words he said to me just days before he passed was 'I love you' and I'll always hold that close to my heart.

In 2022, my Mom lost a very dear friend who I always called my aunt, and two weeks later her brother, another uncle of mine, passed. It was all very sudden and unexpected.

For three years I've been plagued with grief and sadness. It's crazy how everything is connected though. If it wasn't for all these events happening I wouldn't have discovered Greta. I downloaded tiktok during the pandemic desperately looking for something to make me laugh or distract me. I wouldn't have had any interest in that app or spent as much time on it if it wasn't for everything. I wouldn't have stumbled across their funky lil SNL performance several times before caving and looking into who tf they are.

I wouldn't have taken the jump to make this blog, make friends, or have this connection that I do to this band. I'm so glad that Josh questions everything. I'm so glad he picks people's brains to find a deeper meaning to life. I'm so glad he and the rest of the band translate all these questions, thoughts, and feelings into songs that I will never ever forget.

Meeting the Maker is so much more to me than a new single. It's closure. It's my light at the end of the tunnel and I feel like I can breathe. This band came into my life when I needed them the most but I didn't realize the depth of that till this morning. The lyric "It's my time to go home" sit so personally to me as that was the last thing my Grandaddy said to my cousin. He told her he was going home to Jesus and he was ready.

This song felt like a final hug from him and I can not put into words what that means to me. The message of the song for me was "I see you! I see you grieving but rejoice! I'm going home to my master! The master is good!" and boy is he ever. I see the Garden as their own interpretation of Heaven, there's no pain, no battles, no darkness, just vast amounts of light, peace, and healing.

In these three years, almost four, I haven't had a moment to process any of the loss I've suffered. Work and other responsibilities didn't stop just cause I wanted to.

This new album Greta is about to release if going to bring me to my knees and I have a feeling they are going to help me experience all the healing I've been begging for.

Nobody can take away what this band means to me.

[if-you-like-pina-colada-s]

Songs for the Fuck Around And Find Out triangle (perhaps some weird choices but…):

1) Go Fuck Yourself - Two Feet

2) When The Curtain Falls - Greta Van Fleet

3) Enemy - Imagine Dragons (cheesy choice)

4) Among Sinners - The Smokey Crow

5) INCOMING - MC ORSEN // Cataclysm - Yvetzal

And then a very cheesy honorable mention would be I Can’t Decide by the Scissor Sisters, because why not 🤪 also sorry for the 5th place tie!

Thank you for the songs!! They were great!! I listened to all of them 💖 ngl my favorite was Among Sinners. Oh and don't worry, I'm all for cheesy songs >:)

[thelionskingswraps]

Roaring Style: Unveiling the Majesty of Car Wraps in Fremont with The Lion King Wrap

Best Car Wraps Service in Fremont,

In the bustling city of Fremont, California, where innovation meets culture, there’s a trend that’s gaining traction among car enthusiasts and businesses alike – car wraps. While there are countless designs and themes to choose from, one particular wrap has been turning heads and stirring up excitement: The Lion King Wrap. Let's dive into the world of car wraps in Fremont and explore why The Lion King Wrap reigns supreme.

The Art of Car Wrapping

Car wraps are like a canvas for vehicles, offering a unique opportunity to express personality, brand identity, or simply stand out in a crowd. With advances in printing technology and vinyl materials, the possibilities are virtually limitless. From sleek matte finishes to eye-catching graphics, car wraps can transform any vehicle into a rolling work of art.

The Lion King Wrap: A Majestic Choice

Inspired by the timeless tale of Simba and his journey to reclaim his rightful place as king, The Lion King Wrap captures the essence of pride, strength, and majesty. Whether you’re a fan of the animated classic or simply appreciate its iconic imagery, this wrap commands attention wherever it goes.

Standing Out in Fremont

Fremont is a melting pot of cultures, ideas, and lifestyles. In such a diverse and vibrant community, it takes something truly remarkable to make a lasting

impression. That's where car wraps come in. With the streets bustling with traffic and pedestrians, a vehicle adorned with The Lion King Wrap is sure to turn heads and spark conversations. Whether it's cruising down the freeway or parked outside a local business, this wrap demands attention and invites admiration.

The Power of Branding

For businesses operating in Fremont, branding is everything. It’s about more than just a logo or a tagline – it’s about creating a memorable identity that resonates with customers. With The Lion King Wrap, businesses can leverage the power of nostalgia and universal appeal to leave a lasting impression. Whether it's a delivery van, a fleet of vehicles, or a company car, wrapping with The Lion King design adds a touch of personality and flair that sets businesses apart from the competition.

Quality and Durability

When it comes to car wraps, quality and durability are paramount. After all, a wrap is not just a temporary accessory – it's a long-term investment in style and visibility. The Lion King Wrap is crafted using high-quality vinyl materials and state-of-the-art printing techniques to ensure vibrant colors, crisp details, and lasting durability. Rain or shine, day or night, this wrap maintains its allure and brilliance, making it the perfect choice for the discerning car owner or business.

Eco-Friendly Solution

In today's environmentally conscious world, sustainability is a key consideration for many consumers. Fortunately, car wraps offer a more eco-friendly alternative to traditional paint jobs. Unlike painting, which requires harsh chemicals and produces harmful emissions, wrapping involves the use of non-toxic vinyl materials that can be easily removed without damaging the vehicle's surface. This means that car wraps not only look great but also help reduce the carbon footprint, making them a win-win for both car owners and the planet.

Conclusion

In the dynamic city of Fremont, where innovation and creativity thrive, car wraps have emerged as a popular way to make a statement and leave a lasting impression. Among the myriad of designs available, The Lion King Wrap stands out as a majestic choice, capturing the imagination and commanding attention wherever it goes. Whether you're a car enthusiast looking to personalize your ride or a business seeking to elevate your brand, The Lion King Wrap offers a winning combination of style, quality, and durability that is sure to delight and inspire. So why settle for ordinary when you can unleash the roar of greatness with The Lion King Wrap?

[oliverreedmasterass]

Credits and shoutout to @starcatcherkiszka​ for the fic idea!! 

In case you want something to listen to while you read: ✨Summer of 69 Playlist✨

Words: 3.8k

Warnings: language

Synopsis: Greta Van Fleet somehow manages to travel back in time to the Summer of 69, during the Woodstock Art and Music festival. You can only imagine what hijinks they’re going to get up to. 

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

____________________________________________________

“How much longer do we have to stay here?” Sam groaned from his spot on the carpeted floor of their soundbooth, staring up at the paneled ceiling with dread.

“Until we get this track right,” Jake called to him as he took a seat on a rickety old stool for a quick rest. “We’re almost there.” 

“You said that 25 minutes ago,” Sam protested. “You big liar.” 

“It is almost 2am,” Danny pointed out from behind his kit. “Maybe we’d be better off giving it another try tomorrow.”

“We’re close though,” Jake stood back to his feet and strapped his guitar on. “Trust me, we’ll get it in the next three takes.” 

“This is agony,” Sam groaned. 

Josh came over the intercom from behind the mixing board with a bit of feedback, making Jake, Sam, and Danny all jump. 

“Ready for take 21?” he asked. Sam scowled at his brother but finally shook his head in frustrated acceptance and slowly rose back to his feet with a loud crack. Jake gave the audio technician a thumbs up and they heard the metronome sound ticking in their headphones, counting them off. “Play your hearts out, boys,” Josh told them. 

Much to Sam and Danny’s dismay, Jake wasn’t satisfied until 15 takes later. Sam had tried to run out of the studio on multiple occasions, but Josh kept grabbing him and tugging him back to the booth, reminding him that their time in the studio was costing them an arm and a leg, and he was being a big baby. So, when Jake unplugged his guitar from the amp with a crackling snap, Sam had every right to let out a deep groan and collapse back to the floor in relief. Danny tossed his drumsticks off to the side and then, in a similar fashion, flopped beside Sam. 

“I just want this album to take us to the next level,” Jake tried to defend himself. Both Sam and Danny held up their hands to make him stop talking. 

“I thought take 4 sounded great,” Danny said. “I don’t think we needed 36 takes.” 

“My tone wasn’t quite right,” Jake shrugged. “I feel really good about take 36 though.” 

“That one’s definitely the one,” Josh agreed as he entered the room. “That’s gotta break our personal record, huh? Sixteen hours in the studio is pretty impressive.” 

Sam let out another deep groan. 

“We can come in late tomorrow,” Josh looked to Jake for confirmation. “I think we all deserve to sleep in a bit.” 

“I think I deserve to not come into the studio for a week,” Sam tried to barter. “I want to camp out in the middle of nowhere where I don’t have to look at any of your stupid faces or think about stupid music or sound mixing or bass lines.” 

“Wow,” Danny sounded genuinely hurt. “Okay.” 

“He’s just crabby,” Josh consoled Danny. “He gets like this when he doesn’t get his nap.” 

Sam shrugged like he couldn’t argue with Josh. Jake finished tucking his Gibson into his guitar case and then joined Josh, standing over Danny and Sam. He was starting to form some pretty impressive bags under his eyes because, even though he was the night owl of the family, playing for that long and that hard really did take a toll on him. 

“I’m gonna go to the lobby, can I grab you guys anything from the snack bar?” he offered in an attempt to make a truce with his disgruntled bandmates. 

“I’ll take a bag of SunChips,” Sam decided from the ground. 

“Just a water, please,” Danny gave Jake a small smile. Jake grinned back, a wave of relief washing over him that at least Danny wasn’t pissed beyond belief at him and his perfectionism. Thank god Danny was such a naturally understanding person at heart because, god, did Jake do things that would set any other person over the edge. 

Before Josh could put in a request, Jake waved goodbye and booked it out of the room, putting his head down to hurry to the lobby. 

“Wait, I want a banana!” Josh called after him. 

“Sounds like a you problem!” Jake yelled back. 

He reached the lobby and, after a quick scan, made sure to fetch everything that Sam and Danny wanted, and went out of his way to forget Josh’s banana. The exhaustion was catching up to him fast, so he fixed himself a cup of coffee to help him get back to his house in one piece and then turned on his heel to return to the studio. As his white vans clicked down the linoleum floor, he started to whistle the guitar part for one of their new tracks. His eyes were set on their studio door at the end of the hall but, out of his peripheral vision, he saw something that made him slow down. His whistling faded and he pivoted back around on his heel to face the door that he had just passed to his left. He pursed his lips as he took in what looked like a beam of bright light trying to come out from behind the door. Overwhelmed with confusion and intrigue, Jake backed up even farther so he was directly in front of the door, and had to squint his eyes to inspect it. Standing closer to it, he could feel that the hallway was significantly warmer. 

“What the?” he whispered. If his arms weren’t full of food and drinks he would have grabbed for the door handle, but instead he squeezed his eyes shut and reopened them to make sure what he was seeing was really real. The white light pouring from the cracks in the frame looked pretty damn real. 

Just to make sure his exhausted brain wasn’t playing tricks on him, he turned away from the door and hustled back to the studio. Sam, Danny, and Josh were all sprawled on the floor now, but they lifted their heads up slightly as Jake let himself back into the booth. 

“I need to show you guys something,” he said as he handed Danny his water, Sam his chips, and gave Josh a middle finger when he held his hands out for a banana. 

“Hey man, fuck you,” Josh frowned at his brother. “I don’t want to go with you if you’re gonna be mean to me.” 

“No, please, I promise, you’ll want to see this. I need you to see this.” 

“Did you drop an entire case of beer again?” Danny let out a yawn. 

“Just, come with me,” Jake decided to reply, since he really wasn’t sure how to even begin to describe the door. Plus, he liked there being an air of mystery about the whole thing. 

Even though Sam had been the most vocal in his frustration earlier, he was apparently the most willing to humor Jake since he clutched onto a nearby wooden stool to pull himself upright. Danny watched his friend stand up and, with a sigh, joined Sam and Jake. They all looked down at Josh, who was laying on his back with his arms folded over his chest. 

“You’re gonna miss out,” Jake told him. 

“I’m already missing out on a banana, I don’t care.” 

“Suit yourself,” Jake shrugged. He opened the door for Sam and Danny, and they disappeared from the studio. Jake tried to catch a glimpse of the mysterious door as he led Sam and Danny down the hallway and grinned when he saw that the light was still pouring from it. Behind them, Josh’s footsteps grew closer as he ran to catch up. 

“I’m getting a banana, I don’t care what Jake’s showing you guys,” Josh explained himself, though he didn’t move past them to the lobby. Instead, they all cautiously approached the door. 

“The fuck?” Sam asked when he caught sight of the rays of light. 

“Who’s supposed to be in there right now?” Danny asked. 

They checked to see if any names were listed on the calendar posted next to the door, but there was nothing. 

“It looks like it’s open,” Josh announced. “But maybe Helios is dropping a track in there,” he added as a second thought. 

Sam was studying the door, deep in thought. 

“Maybe someone left some lighting equipment in there for a music video or photoshoot?” he guessed. “And they just forget to turn it all off?” 

“Are we gonna open it?” Josh turned to Jake. Jake was staring intently at the door once more, debating the pros and cons of opening it. 

Con: there could be something weird behind there

Pro: there could be something weird behind there

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Danny spoke up. “Why don’t we just let management know, and they can send someone over to check it out? I just wanna get back to my bed and sleep.”  

“Don’t you think it’s funny,” Jake started, his eyes still focused on the light, “that we write an entire album about a heavenly gate, and now we’re facing something that looks exactly like that?” 

“It is strange,” Josh admitted. 

“It seems to me like it’s something we’re meant to open,” Jake decided. He was, of course, talking out of his ass, but he wanted to provide a better reason for opening the door other than that he was curious and he had a hard time determining the severity of the consequences of his actions. 

Danny opened his mouth like he was prepared to give a rebuttal, but before he could get his word in, Jake lurched for the rounded door handle and, through grit teeth in response to the heat of the doorknob, twisted and pushed it open. Almost immediately they were all blinded by the light, which they responded to with grunts, flinching away. 

“Okay, maybe those aren’t set lights,” Sam said while he covered his eyes with his hands. “Jesus Christ, that’s blinding.” 

Josh reached into his jumpsuit pocket and retrieved a pair of sunglasses, which he quickly put on. Unfortunately, he quickly discovered that the glasses did next to nothing to spare his eyes from the searing beam. What he was able to see, though, was Jake walking directly into it.

“What are you doing?” he called out in shock. 

“It’s not gonna hurt me,” Jake said over his shoulder. 

“Literally the one thing they tell you is to not go towards the light.” 

“This feels like a different kind of light.” 

“What the hell does that mean? How do you distinguish the difference between light?” 

“Are you gonna grab him or keep arguing with him?” Sam asked from behind Josh, just barely opening his eyes so he could see what was going on. “He’s gonna do something stupid.” 

“Uh, guys,” Danny’s voice shook. 

“What?” Josh and Sam asked. 

“He’s gone.”

Although it was near impossible to see anything other than the striking white color pouring out of the door, it was clear that Jake was no longer standing with them. 

“For the love of God,” Josh groaned out. “Why the fuck did he do that?”

“You were distracted with Sam and he shot me some finger guns and hopped through the door,” Danny caught them up to speed. “Do you think he’s dead?” 

“He’s not dead,” Josh was quick to respond. “I would have sensed it.” 

That earned him a snort from Sam. 

“I swear, there’s academic articles out there about twin telepathy,” Josh felt it was worthwhile in that moment to defend himself against his younger brother’s scrutiny. 

“Jake?” Danny cautiously called into the light, “Are you in there, bud?” 

They were met with deafening silence. 

“Literally say anything,” Danny tried again, panic rising in his voice. They waited a few beats, but not a single sound was uttered from the other side. 

“We have to go in after him,” Josh declared. “And drag his stupid ass back here.” 

“I’m not going in there,” Sam shook his head. “I’m going to bed.” 

“You know you’re not gonna be able to sleep because you’ll be worried about Jake,” Josh raised an eyebrow. “C’mon, Sam.” 

“I want you both to know that being in a band with all of you has easily taken years off of my life,” Danny told the two brothers. Then, he faced the door, let out a short huff, and stepped through it. 

Sam’s face was scrunched in discomfort, not only from the light, but also the situation at hand. It was unclear what laid beyond the door, and Sam had no rational explanation for what could be going on, but he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he wasn’t going to enjoy a good night’s sleep in his own bed for a while. 

“Do you want to hold my hand?” Josh asked, holding his sweaty palm up to Sam. Sam looked like he was contemplating it for a second, but finally pushed it away and pointed at the door. 

“We’re going through there together, that’s all I want.” 

Josh couldn’t argue with that so, after giving Sam a reassuring pat on the shoulder, they stood together and squeezed through the tight door frame, entering into the light. 

It was a bizarre experience: while standing near the light had provided a similar sensation to being in front of a fire pit, once they moved deeper in, the air actually grew colder, like the Michigan winters from their childhood. The light continued to sear their eyes, building in intensity to the point where it was still bright with their eyes closed and covered by their hands. Sam and Josh both felt some kind of force latch onto them at the same time, which they responded to with nervous squeaks, and then, like a nightmare roller coaster, they lurched forward. 

If Sam wasn’t so terrified, he would have smacked his older brother for whooping with glee as they were thrust in some unknown direction at a speed that Sam couldn’t fathom. While they whipped around, he was burdened with worry about how they were going to safely stop and, more importantly, exactly where they were going to stop. Their bodies jerked to the left and to the right, and then Sam felt a warmth that they were rapidly approaching. 

“Brace yourself!” He thought he could hear Josh yell over the rush of wind that was passing by Sam’s ears. It was hard to move, but he managed to shakily reach his hands up towards his head and cover it, alongside pulling his knees up into his chest in the fetal position. He opened his eyes for a brief moment, still stunned by the brightness of everything, but saw Josh slightly up ahead, doing flips in the air while yelling out in joy. Just beyond Josh, Sam could see that the white light was starting to break into some kind of green hue. And it looked like that was directly where they were headed. 

It happened so fast Sam couldn’t process anything that was happening in real-time, but they shot out from some kind of cloud, did a freefall for about ten feet, and then landed with a thud in a grassy field. As upset as Sam was with his brothers for forcing him to jump through some mysterious, magic doorway, he was grateful that Josh had half a heart to warn him about a landing. Still, he was in shock from everything, so he opted to lay in the grass, facing the sky that had magically cleared of any strange clouds or scalding heat. 

“Oh shit, are you dead?” he heard Josh ask to his right. The sound of Josh’s footsteps came closer, and then he saw his older brother leaning directly over his head, his eyes bright. “Hiya, Sammy.” 

“Hiya,” Sam softly replied back. “What the fuck just happened?” 

“Probably something the human mind can’t comprehend,” Josh replied with a smile. “I wonder how far away Jake and Danny are.” 

At the thought of poor Danny going through that on his own, Sam sprung back to his feet, which seemed to surprise Josh since he backed up a few steps. 

“They can’t be too far away, right?” Sam asked. Josh shrugged. They both took a second to scan around them to get a better sense of where they could possibly be. Low, rolling green hills surrounded them on all sides and, in the distance, a grove of trees were standing tall. The air was humid, but a light breeze made it easier to breathe, which Sam sucked in. “It feels like the east coast,” he commented. “Up north.” 

“I don’t think we’re in Nashville anymore,” Josh agreed. 

“Danny?” Sam cupped his hands around his mouth to shout. “DANNY?” he tried again. 

“Hey, hey,” Josh put a hand on Sam’s shoulder to stop him. “We don’t know where we are. I think we need to lay low until we find more answers.” 

“I just want to find my friend,” Sam frowned. “He could be hurt for all we know.” 

“We’ll climb to the top of one of those hills and get the eagle eye view, how about that?” Josh attempted to compromise. “You should be able to see him from up there.” 

Sam couldn’t argue with that logic, so they set their sights on the tallest hill and started to climb. Sam didn’t appreciate how evident it was that he was ridiculously out of shape, but he was glad that he could pretend to be intently searching around for Danny while he was actually catching his breath. He and Josh stood back to back, scanning around, trying to catch a glimpse of anything that even slightly resembled their band members when Josh let out a small gasp. 

“Found them,” he announced. 

Josh tugged on Sam’s shoulder to point him in the right direction, and Sam couldn’t help but let out a chuckle when he caught sight of Danny and Jake about 100 yards away, walking side by side through the grass, entirely unscathed. Without another word, Sam started to jog down the hill towards them. Sure, he was out of shape, but he needed some form of consolation that they were okay and they hadn’t just made the biggest mistake of their lives by passing through that damn door. 

“Oh, thank God,” Sam was greeted by Danny when he approached him and Jake. “We had started to assume that you guys stayed behind.” 

“What the hell is going on?” Sam demanded Jake, moving past Danny to grab ahold of Jake’s loose button up shirt so he could pull him close. 

“Still working on an answer to that one,” Jake choked. “Will get back to you soon though.” 

“Let him go, Sammy,” Josh said as he approached the group. Sam looked hesitant, but after hearing Jake make a few more gagging noises, he threw him back down so he stumbled around a bit before regaining his balance. “I’ve got a couple of theories about what just happened,” Josh continued. He held up three fingers, which his bandmates wearily watched. “One,” Josh started, “we’re dead.” 

“Man, I hope not,” Danny commented. 

“Two,” Josh pointed to his second finger, “we somehow managed to find a portal that brought us to a different dimension.” 

“That could be fun,” Jake looked around at everyone and was met by frowns. 

“Or three, someone drugged us back at the studio.” 

“I’m feeling like it’s gotta be option three,” Sam declared. “The other two are baloney.” 

“I hope we went through a portal,” Jake’s mind was somewhere else. “Wouldn’t that be cool?” 

“Not really,” Danny murmured. “I kinda want to go back home.” 

“It’s an adventure!” Jake exclaimed, clapping his hands together. “An opportunity for us to grow and learn things about each other!” 

“That sounds awful,” Sam’s brow was furrowed. “I’m not in the mood for any kind of self-discovery or whatever.” 

“You’ve got no other choice, Sammy boy,” Jake clasped him on the back, which nearly sent him toppling over. “You stepped through that door, now we have to find our way back.” 

“I hate you,” was all Sam could say in response. 

Jake seemed to take no offense to that, since he linked arms with Josh and started to skip away from Danny and Sam, down the hill towards the horizon, singing at the top of his lungs, 

“We’re off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz!” 

“What do you think is going on?” Sam turned to Danny after watching his twin brothers skip off into the distance. Danny looked as troubled as Sam felt, which at least brought him some comfort in knowing that he wasn’t the only one in the group who was capable of even a sliver of rational thought. 

“I couldn’t tell you, but I can confidently say that I’m on the brink of panicking.” 

“You and me both,” Sam sighed. Together, they followed behind Jake and Josh, who had managed to move so far ahead that they were ant-sized in the distance. “We’ll be okay though, I think.” 

Danny looked like he really wanted to believe Sam, but there was still a deep frown stuck on his face. 

“I really wish Jake thought sometimes before he did things.”  

“It’s pretty hard to turn him away from bright, shiny things, Danny. No amount of convincing could have deterred him away from going through that door.” 

“Hey! Guys!” Josh was hollering to them. 

“What?” Sam screamed back. 

“We found something!” Josh’s voice could just barely be heard. Danny and Sam exchanged a quick glance and then tore in Jake and Josh’s direction. Even though they were trying their hardest to remain composed on the outside, both of them were dying to know what situation they had gotten caught in. 

When they reached Jake and Josh, they saw that Josh was closely studying a piece of paper that had been left strewn in a muddy patch in the field. Jake leaned over Josh’s shoulder and seemed to be scanning the words as well, his eyes dancing around the page. 

“What’s that?” Sam pointed towards the damaged paper.

“It’s a clue,” Josh looked up. “A huge clue about where we are.” 

“I didn’t know this was possible,” Jake mused to himself from behind Josh with a joyful chuckle. 

Danny couldn’t tolerate the anticipation anymore since he ripped the paper from Josh’s hands and quickly skimmed it over. 

“What. The. Fuck,” his eyes were wide as he lowered the paper. “What the actual fuck.” 

Jake gave Danny a childlike grin. 

“Right? Right?” He could barely contain his excitement. Danny twisted the paper around so Sam, who was feeling really confused, could take a look. 

“Three days of peace and music,” he read aloud. “Bethel, New York. August 15-17, 1969.” 

“So you guys think,” Danny was trying to make sense of everything, “we traveled back in time?” 

“To the summer of 69,” Jake’s smile stretched from ear to ear. 

“Lord help us,” Sam moaned, letting the paper fall back into the mud.

[newsblog12]

Tech Tidbits: Artists vs. AI, Apple’s Latest Move, and Yahoo’s Big Buy

Nicki Minaj, Billie Eilish, Katy Perry and other musicians sign letter against irresponsible AI

AI News A group of 200 musicians signed an open letter calling on tech companies and developers to not undermine human creativity with AI music generation tools. The list of undersigned artists is so power-packed and wide-ranging that it could make for a great Coachella lineup — it features Billie Eilish, the Bob Marley estate, Chappell Roan, Elvis Costello, Greta Van Fleet, Imagine Dragons, Jon Bon Jovi, the Jonas Brothers, Kacey Musgraves, Katy Perry, Mac DeMarco, Miranda Lambert, Mumford & Sons, Nicki Minaj, Noah Kahan, Pearl Jam, Sheryl Crow and Zayn Malik, among others. “When used irresponsibly, AI poses enormous threats to our ability to protect our privacy, our identities, our music and our livelihoods,” the letter reads. “Some of the biggest and most powerful companies are, without permission, using our work to train AI models… For many working musicians, artists and songwriters who are just trying to make ends meet, this would be catastrophic.”

These artists are right. The AI models that generate new music, artwork, and writing function by training on massive datasets of existing work, and in most cases, asking to remove your work from these models is a futile exercise. It would be as if one of these artists tried to prevent anyone from pirating their music—it’s just not realistic. It’s already possible to make convincing deepfakes of popular artists, and the technology will only keep getting better. Some companies, like Adobe and Stability AI, are working on AI music generators that use licensed or royalty-free music. But even these tools could negatively impact artists who make scores for TV commercials or other beats that an artist might license for their work. Historically, musicians have gotten the short end of the stick as technology gets more and more sophisticated. First, it was file-sharing that made it easy to get music for free; streaming emerged as the answer for that issue, but it’s not one that’s satisfied artists. The Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) has spent years working to secure better streaming payouts for artists—the artists in the guild estimate that Spotify’s average streaming royalty rate is about $0.0038, or about a fourth of a cent. So it makes sense that musicians remain skeptical of this emerging technology.

Authors have also taken a stand against the rise of generative AI. In July, over 15,000 writers—including James Patterson, Michael Chabon, Suzanne Collins, Roxane Gay, and others—signed a similar open letter, addressed to the CEOs of OpenAI, Alphabet, Meta, Stability AI, IBM and Microsoft. “These technologies mimic and regurgitate our language, stories, style, and ideas. Millions of copyrighted books, articles, essays, and poetry provide the ‘food’ for AI systems, endless meals for which there has been no bill,” the authors’ letter reads. But these tech companies aren’t listening. You can still go on ChatGPT and ask it to churn out a passage in the style of Margaret Atwood — it’s not necessarily good, but it does indicate that the large language model has ingested “The Handmaid’s Tale” and can spit out a degraded version of it. And since copyright law isn’t necessarily sophisticated enough to address generative AI, legal recourse is pretty useless at this point. “This assault on human creativity must be stopped,” the musicians’ letter says. “We must protect against the predatory use of AI to steal professional artists’ voices and likenesses, violate creators’ rights, and destroy the music ecosystem.” SOURCE

Now Apple Vision Pro Personas can float freely across different apps

AI News As of today, Apple has introduced an enhanced feature for Vision Pro users – the “spatial Persona” capability, leveraging VisionOS 1.1. This update transcends traditional FaceTime interactions, allowing users to engage in a more immersive experience with Share-Play-enabled applications. Users can now collaborate, play games, or enjoy media together, simulating the presence in the same physical space. Originally previewed to developers last year, this functionality is now accessible in the Persona beta. It enables individual users to manipulate and reposition objects within their view, independently of how it affects another user’s perspective. Additionally, spatial audio technology aims to enhance the realism of the virtual environment, giving a sense of the other person’s location within it. To activate spatial Personas, users must update their devices to VisionOS 1.1 and select the option during a FaceTime call. The feature supports group interactions of up to five participants simultaneously. The effectiveness of this feature remains under evaluation, particularly due to its dependency on Share-Play and the relatively underdeveloped Vision Pro app ecosystem. The potential for reducing feelings of isolation through virtual companionship in activities such as movie watching will also be a point of interest in its real-world application. SOURCE 

Yahoo is buying Artifact, the AI news app from the Instagram co-founders

AI News Artifact, an AI news recommendation tool co-founded by Instagram’s creators, didn’t achieve widespread traction but is poised for a resurgence under Yahoo’s banner. Despite its innovative approach to curating news for readers, Artifact struggled to expand its user base. Yahoo, with its vast audience, sees an opportunity to inject cutting-edge technology into its services, aiming for a rejuvenation in the competitive news aggregation space. Yahoo has acquired the technology behind Artifact, not its team, with co-founders Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom serving as “special advisors” rather than joining Yahoo directly. The transition marks the end of Artifact as an independent app, a decision made three months after its creators announced its discontinuation, citing limitations in market potential as a key factor. Despite initial plans to move on without seeking buyers or additional funding, interest from several companies, including Yahoo, prompted reconsideration. Yahoo’s acquisition reflects a strategic move to harness AI for enhancing content personalization and recommendation, leveraging Artifact’s sophisticated algorithms. The collaboration promises to bring Artifact’s advanced content categorization and user experience design to Yahoo News, potentially expanding to other Yahoo platforms. This integration aims to significantly increase the reach and impact of Artifact’s technology, offering personalized news experiences to Yahoo’s 185 million monthly users.

As Artifact’s technology integrates into Yahoo’s ecosystem, the focus will be on gradual implementation, ensuring the sophisticated AI algorithms adapt effectively to Yahoo’s infrastructure. This partnership not only offers a new lease on life for Artifact’s innovations but also signals Yahoo’s ambition to pioneer a future-oriented news service, powered by state-of-the-art AI personalization techniques. Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom reflect on the journey and future possibilities, emphasizing their ongoing interest in AI’s transformative potential. While they explore new ventures, the successful integration of Artifact into Yahoo stands as their immediate goal, promising to redefine how users interact with digital content in an AI-driven world. SOURCE

Conclusion

The confluence of concerns from music artists about AI’s impact on creativity, Apple’s innovative expansion of Vision Pro’s capabilities, and Yahoo’s strategic acquisition of Artifact underscores a week of significant developments in the technology landscape. While renowned musicians advocate for responsible AI use, fearing for their creative integrity and livelihoods, tech giants like Apple and Yahoo are advancing the frontiers of AI and digital interaction. Apple’s Vision Pro introduces an immersive, spatial Persona feature, redefining virtual collaboration, while Yahoo’s acquisition of Artifact aims to revolutionize personalized news through advanced AI technology. Together, these stories reflect the ongoing dialogue between technological advancement and its ethical implications, highlighting both the potential of AI to enhance human experiences and the critical need for its thoughtful application. As the digital and creative worlds continue to intersect, the challenge lies in harnessing AI’s power to foster innovation while safeguarding the essence of human creativity and connection. Stay connected with Arcot Group for more AI News into how such collaborations are reshaping the tech landscape and paving the way for future innovations. For further reading on similar breakthroughs and the impact of AI and robotics, explore our blog.Post

[abnormalanthology]

CONCERT REVIEW!!

Back in September I went to see Greta Van Fleet. This was actually my second time seeing them because I was so blown away the first time that I just needed to experience that again. I would say that they are pretty widely known, but if you don't know, Greta Van Fleet is a grammy award-winning rock band of brothers Josh, Jake, and Sam Kizka and their friend Danny Wagner that formed in 2012. They initially got recognition for their similarity to Led Zeppelin, especially the lead singer Josh who's voice is practically indistinguishable from Robert Plant's. Under the rock umbrella, they fall mostly under hard rock, blues rock, and psychedelic rock due to their insane virtuosity and reoccurring themes of social justice.

One of the things that I love most about going to Greta Van Fleet concerts is that the atmosphere. The fans are called the "peaceful army" and that couldn't be more true. It feels like everyone there is someone that you could just instantly become friends with. The demographics of the fans is also quite interesting since I find that it's majority young women and middle aged dads. It's a beautiful crossover of generations bonding over the purest joy: great music. Also, Josh Kizka does really good crowd work and makes the show feel very personal. He also has some very funny traditions that he has picked up over touring. One such tradition being starting shows by saying "if you've got 'em smoke 'em" after which the entire venue proceeds to smell very strongly. He also is known to take shots with members of the crowds and wear glittery bell-bottomed jumpsuits, which many of the fans mimic.

Another aspect that keeps me coming back for more is the insane talent of Jake Kizka. Jake is the lead guitarist and a big part of the show is him going on up to ten minute long solos that are absolutely mind blowing. I've included a video of part of one of them, but if you have any experience with concert-going than you know that the videos never fully compare to actually being there in person. He has won numerous awards two of them being "guitar player of the year" and "best guitar solo of the century" by Guitar world and Total Guitar respectively. The way that he flows so effortlessly from one riff to another is magical to experience. He plays with such passion and energy that I'm honestly shocked how his fingers aren't bleeding by the end of the show. This concert made me feel nostalgic for what I imagine going to rock concerts in the 70's would have been like.

Overall, I would give this experience a 9.5/10. The set list focused mainly on their newest album, but included many of the highlights of their previous albums as well. The crowd was energetic but not rowdy, and toned down the noise during solos. The only reason I took off a half a point was because my seats kind of sucked, and I feel like the best way to experience it would be from the pit.

[leithomalley]

Life imitating Art.

I was scrolling through some old images tonight to a time some years ago when I would often paint from the early evening till the early hours of the morning. I would take lots of photos and going by this one I was trying to imitate what I was creating on canvas. In this case a self portrait titled ’Suspended Infatuation’.P

 At the time I was paying homage to artists who had inspired me in so many ways throughout my life. There is also some sort of straight jacket which seems to be untied.. possibly a metaphor for being set free by art? Perhaps. Was a long time ago.

I remember I had collaged on to the canvas some real twine (which I am being suspended by) and also included the actual paint brushes which were used earlier on in the works progression. I like to do that.

Although it’s difficult to see here, I have also included a scratched in line from a poem I wrote (“The Gift”):

“No breeze can hold it, this gift this life. Unbridled imagination, a string less kite”

The photo reminds me of the feeling of wonderment or the loss of inhibition one can experience alone with just yourself, your brushes, mediums and canvas. The stimulus and studio hours are somewhat different for me these days but I still lose myself at the smell of linseed as I enter that realm. If you have time, I dug out something I wrote in my sketch book at the time of the painting.. a little heavy on sentiment but I think it expresses where my mind was at during painting it.

_______________________________________________________

I am buoyed by the legacy of great painters, both past and present. 

Like a painterly tapestry, the influences of the masters interweave within me, imbuing my work with depth and resonance. The ethereal strokes of Van Gogh guide my hand, infusing my art with vibrant passion and emotional intensity. The luminous hues of Lloyd Rees illuminate my palette, whispering secrets of capturing light and the fleeting essence of nature. Picasso's daring experiments in form and perspective inspire me to challenge conventions and embrace innovation.

But it is not only the masters of the past who bestow their inspiration upon me. The contemporary painters of our time, the trailblazers who push boundaries and redefine artistic expression, add their voice to the symphony of inspiration. I feel the rhythmic pulse of abstract expressionism as embodied by Basquiat, the intricate details and narrative depth of Brett Whiteley, the simplicity and humour of Leunig and Mombassa and the thought-provoking conceptualism of Dali and Warhol.