#rival boys

[mywifeleftme]

322: Rival Boys // Animal Instincts

Animal Instincts Rival Boys 2014, Tiny Records (Bandcamp)

Rival Boys were an Ontario indie rock band active in Toronto from the late ‘00s to the mid ‘10s. They were a three-piece comprising sibling vocalists Lee and Graeme Rose (on bass/violin and guitar, respectively) and drummer Sam Sholdice, with a sound somewhat like Vancouverites Mother Mother on a blue day. (Whom, as an aside, I have discovered are now way more popular thanks to TikTok than they ever were at the time—they have 8.3 million listeners a month on Spotify, which is like… 38 times more than the New Pornographers.) Both Roses affect a mewl somewhere between Violent Femmes’ Gordon Gano and Sarah McLachlan, with Lee’s more powerful bellow usually taking the lead. In conjunction with the cold mountain violin that periodically sweeps the floorboards, it gives their otherwise youthful affect a nostalgic somberness. They were emphatically a rock band though, capable of kicking up a surly crunch: they didn’t have the dance rhythms of the Metric/Land of Talk acolytes who were all over CBC Radio 2 (the national public alternative music station) at the time, preferring to lope along like the Pixies.

Rival Boys were no longer a going concern by the time I moved to Toronto in 2017; I discovered them when I found a CD of their 2009 EP Life of Worry in the basement of an Ottawa house I shared with a friend who’d known somebody in the band back in high school. It was the first time I can remember coming across a group remotely in my social radius that struck me as unequivocally good. I listened to that five-song EP to death for a few years, and I still think they really nailed their sound with it; as a result, I had kind of a chilly response to their 2014 farewell Animal Instincts when I found it at a punk flea market. They’d shed just a touch of the raw-boned vulnerability that had made their loose, imagistic lyrics cling like a thin flannel against a harsh wind; a bit less bite to the guitar; a hair less heedless urgency to the vocals. The serviceable cover of Wolf Parade’s “I’ll Believe in Anything” seemed on the nose; the new rendition of EP highlight “Construction Work” didn’t make my heart stagger around like the original.

But listening to it now, I think Animal Instincts’ real sin was just not being the record I’d fallen in love with. Life of Worry is special, but there’s plenty to like on the LP. Opener “Fortune” edges the hell out of the listener before finally giving us some of Lee in full thunder; “Young and Old” is a showcase for the close harmonies, wet-eyed violin, and martial drumming that were Rival Boys’ most distinctive element; “Don’t Bloom” gives us a little of everything Lee does well, flowing from a distracted, introverted croon to a high wail that arcs like a flaming arrow at a Viking funeral. On this listen anyway, even the new version of “Construction Work” is doing it for me. There’s a nice closure to the fact that it was both among the first and last things they cut: the original with its blazing, desolate frustration sweeping into a folk reel outro that feels like transcendence; the revision more brittle, reserved, like people on the cusp of leaving adolescence behind giving it one last go, the quieter outro never quite taking off but settling into a low, churchy organ drone. It feels like a dignified goodbye.

Which the record in fact was, although it may not have been clear at the time. Graeme dropped out of the music scene altogether; Lee was quiet for a few years, but soldiers on with the very good Ace of Wands; I’m not sure what Sam’s up to these days. Time moves on—it’s 15 years since the EP, 10 now since the LP. I’m sure for the band members and their fans it feels like barely half that time, like finding a book you set down just the other day covered in dust and all your friends so old all the sudden! If ‘00s indie music can be said to have been about anything, it was surely about digging deeper into the experience of being alive, celebrating the wild joy of it while you can, making something of that. Rival Boys surely made something, and it’s nice to have something physical of it to keep.

322/365

[kilometresrufflefuck]

hear me out the other day i woke up and was immediately hit in the face with "7 year gap narumitsu in europe where phoenix kisses edgeworth in a low moment and then tries to flee and edgeworth uses mind chess on him to get the truth out of him which is a completely normal and ordinary average way to discuss your relationship"

[d3rpydoods]

Idk, just like the idea of Pete and Lin being so chill that Pete can just hang off of Lin at any time, in any way without any of them batting an eye

[miyaneatworld]

fanart of satan

[xrk-art]

Cucumber jumscare

Inspired by this 👇 @ouchmyghostskin

The Aftermath 🫡

[cubedmango]

the only thing i want from the dlc

[nottsangel]

no because imagine academic rival!theo going down on u in a classroom or a library or something. like u guys cannot study together but like…he’s down for other stuff…………yk??

“shut the fuck up or people will hear us.” theo warns sternly, spreading your legs with his strong hands on your thighs while you’re leaning against the desk. your fingers tangle in his soft hair as he’s down on his knees, watching the wetness trail down your thighs.

this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. you were meant to study with him— well, not voluntarily, though. you were paired up with him for a group project, much to both of your irritation. and as expected, after a while, you began yelling at each other, both stubborn as hell and unable to agree on anything. then, unexpectedly, caught up in the heat of the moment, he firmly grabbed your face and eagerly kissed you before ripping the clothes of your body…. and that’s how you found yourself in this predicament.

“then hurry the fuck up, theo!” you hiss, impatiently pushing him into into your dripping core and making him groan, the vibrations heightening to the pleasure you’re feeling as he laps at your aching cunt. you throw your head back at the sensation as he skilfully sucks on your swollen clit, causing you to bite down on your lip to suppress any loud moans from escaping.

“oh, fuck, fuck, just like that! feels so good, theo, fuck.”

“never thought i’d hear you moan my name, bella, but i could get used to this.”

normally, you’d bite back at his words, but he quickly pushes two fingers into you at once, causing you to clutch the edge of the desk with all your might as you let out a shaky breath at the feeling. he finds your g-spot so effortlessly, long fingers curling up as the tips of his digits rub against your sweet spot, bringing you closer and closer to the edge.

“you gonna come, baby? almost breaking my fuckin’ fingers here with how tightly you’re clenching around them.” he growls against your core as your legs begin to tremble. you feel your body grow weaker as his skilful fingers speed up, rubbing against your g-spot relentlessly while his mouth sucks on your clit so perfectly. you can practically feel him smirk against your cunt, enjoying how you respond to his touch.

“i’m gonna— fuck, i’m gonna cum” you moan as theo continues sloppily eating you out and fingering you simultaneously, both his saliva and your juices running down his chin. he so effortlessly pushes you over the edge as your orgasm washes over you, causing you to arch your back as your vision begins to blur, your hand flying to your mouth to silence any loud moans. your chest rises and falls as you come down from your intense high, head still thrown back and your mouth agape.

“cool. let’s go back to work now.”

“theo, wha—”

“oh, and i made you cum. so it’s only fair we do it my way now.”

ੈ♡˳

[monstersholygrail]

Yandere!Academic Rival who always flaunts his perfect test scores in front of you just to see you go red in the face with barely restrained fury. He adores the way you huff at him, your lips pouting in such an adorable expression. The way you scream at him, claiming he must’ve cheated.

Of course, stealing answer sheets wasn’t necessarily cheating, it was just a little educational aid.

But you can never prove it which only makes you even more angry. Pushing your chest up against his and sending him a threat you probably had to spend all night rehearsing. He relishes in it. Knowing your threats are just for him. Your anger belongs to him and him alone. Just like the rest of you.

The rest of the school silently wonders how it’s always you two. Only you and him at the top. And when they look at the scores, everyone else seems so far behind.

He would, of course, do anything to remain your rival. There were no lengths he wouldn’t go. That includes hacking into the college’s database and personally lowering each and every other students grades. He couldn’t dare risk someone else becoming your rival. He wouldn’t just let you forget about him, after all!

But somehow, even with his subtle suggestions to the grade book, there’s someone who actually manages to rise through the ranks. Some pesky little nerd who’s aiming for his number one spot. Wanting to take his place in your life. In your heart. Oh well, he’ll just have to take care of him…

Especially when he sees how you treat the pathetic nerd. You don’t hate him at all. Instead you’re actually— nice to him. Why him?! What made him so special?! That nerd doesn’t know you, not like he does. He doesn’t push you to do better and be the best, not like he does. Compared to him, the nerd is nothing.

So why do you smile when you see him? Why do you laugh at his jokes? Those should be smiles aimed at him. You should be laughing at his jokes, even if they’re usually made at your expense. It’s all part of what makes you and him so perfect together.

He just has to show you that… That’s it! He’ll show you. Both of you.

The next day he sees you waiting in the hall, most likely looking for that nerd. It’s a waste of time. He won’t be coming. He saunters up to you instead, his chest tightening as you scowl at him instead of smile. That’ll all change soon. Still, he sends you his signature smug smirk, the expression a little tighter today.

“Looking for the nerd? It’s strange, I heard he suddenly transferred and just up and left school in the middle of the night,” he says smoothly as he corners you against the wall. His shoulders relaxing as you inhale shakily. A clear sign of your affections, he’s sure.

All while his scent flooding your senses will distract you from realizing any holes in his lackluster story. You really were so smart, perfect, and all for him.

“Guess he just wasn’t cut out for the competition,” he muses, pulling a kabedon on you as he rests a hand above your head, and absentmindedly picking dried blood out from beneath his fingernails.

[kahixxi]

[mustasekittens]

get his ass cindy

[cherinuggetarts]

I

[lilnightwing]

[florateaa]

Зимний Солдат

[willyhoos]

hehehehe.... "team sonic" being the unbreakable bond... sonic has many friends and allies but he's only got one brother.

[frozeeeeen]

Just a quick sketch of my new son to try to study how I can draw him more seriously bc I have a Bad feeling he’ll be the only think I’ll be able to draw for a while …….

[cherry-pop-elf]

Imma just leave this here for yall….

Just…..gonna leave this here…..