#screenshot from vk

[sophaeros]

arctic monkeys for clash magazine, april 2010

ON THE ROAD WITH… ARCTIC MONKEYS

Words by Simon Harper Photos by Jason Joyce

As Britain’s favourite band headed out on the European leg of their ‘Humbug’ tour, Clash discovered that Arctic Monkeys were less sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, and more cakes, ping-pong and Coco Pops…

The city of Offenbach, about twenty minutes south of Frankfurt, was once noted for its abundant leather industry, and is currently the base of the German weather service, but such claims don’t negate the fact that it’s basically a sterile, grey, typically German suburban borough. The arrival of a fleet of trucks and buses, carrying Arctic Monkeys, their crew and stage gear, heralded the notion that for one night only, Offenbach may just come alive with suitably bustling energy.

Offenbach’s Stadthalle is the smallest venue on the Monkeys’ three-week tour of Western Europe. The band have been through Portugal, Spain and France, and know how to kill time during the day while everyone works around them, building the stage for that night’s show. And so, when Clash finds them, upstairs in the Stadthalle’s back rooms, they’re in the middle of a fierce ping-pong match – the game scores being tallied up across the tour. The table, it transpires, is the band’s own, and follows them wherever they go. A set of football goals lie waiting for action, but the small white balls prove more enticing.

It’s a cold, February Tuesday, and these back rooms are where the band will spend the whole day.

Previous encounters with Arctic Monkeys have been somewhat tough – notoriously reticent and famously press-shy, there’s a tangible wall that surrounds them, which is seemingly hard to penetrate. Suspicious stares cut through you, while succinct answers frustrate you. Today, however, they couldn’t be more accommodating.

Clash sits with the quartet in the band-only room, where their personal equipment is kept in a vertical flight case of drawers, and a small fridge is at hand for cold beers. Nick O’Malley, Jamie Cook and Matt Helders sprawl on the leather couches, while Alex Turner perches on the table, often pacing the room, then escaping in search of a lighter. We’re here to talk about life on the road. What starts as an interview eventually descends into louche conversation; daft chat punctuated by much laughter. Perhaps they’re glad to see a friendly face; perhaps the monotony of touring makes them crave any respite; perhaps there’s nothing better to do in Offenbach.

Is being on tour like real life, or does it feel like you’re detached from what real life is?

Matt: It’s probably real life. It doesn’t seem like it’s too separate or miles away.

When you go home is that normality or is it just a continuation of what you do on the road?

Matt: I don’t find it hard to settle back and switch between the two.

Nick: You feel like you’re unemployed when you go home properly.

Like you’ve got nothing to do?

Nick: Yeah, or like if you’ve got a couple of weeks off.

Matt: Like school holidays.

Alex: Does that make this school then?

Matt: Yeah, but it’s like basketball camp or something you enjoy.

How do your friendships cope with life on the road? 

Matt: It’s fine.

Nick: Yeah. We know how to not annoy each other. We’ve never really had friction, because we’ve all got a similar outlook on how not to annoy people, I suppose, so there’s never really been any problems.

Alex: (Mock nastily) That’s what you think, mate.

Nick: (Laughs) I suppose if you see the same people every day, after a while you’re bound to get a bit annoyed, but as long as you keep in your mind that it’s just because of the situation and not because you don’t like the person, then you can kind of avoid outbursts that you might not mean. It’s never really been a problem so far.

Do you notice a huge cultural difference between touring Europe and America? 

Alex: Even between places in Europe. I mean, often, to be honest, certainly at this stage that we’re at, days like today aren’t uncommon, where you’re out of town and you don’t even really see where you are, as I’m sure you’re aware. But you can really tell the difference just in the show, from the crowd. We did Madrid and Barcelona over t’weekend, and last week Portugal, and they were really excitable and there was like a frenzy going on when we were playing. Whereas I think crowds elsewhere can be a bit more reserved, can’t they, depending on where it is. I reckon one of the best crowds on this tour was a gig we did last week in Porto. We’ve never played there before. There was this real appreciation or something just from the start. You can just sort of feel it, can’t you; ‘We’re all here to have a laugh’.

Alex lives in the States now. Have any of you considered moving to somewhere you’ve visited on tour?

Matt: Yeah. It’s good that you do get to see places that you might consider moving, like Berlin. I could imagine living there.

Does living apart make you appreciate each other more when you’re back together?

Jamie: [Long pause] Mmmm…yeah.

Gone are the days when you’re living round the corner from each other.

Alex: Yeah, I suppose that’s true. You’ve got to sort of organise to be in one place. I suppose that is a bit of an inconvenient drag.

Are there any essential items that you have to pack before you come out on tour?

Jamie: One of them rolly things that gets fluff of your coat. (All laugh)

Alex: I feel like you’re a lot better equipped than the rest of us with things like that.

Yeah, you’re looking very bobble-less.

Jamie: Ah, cheers. Yeah, I did it this morning actually. A quick roll.

Matt: A skipping rope – except I forgot it this time. I’ve lost mine.

Nick: DVDs, stuff like that.

A ping-pong table?

Jamie: A ping-pong table is essential actually. I don’t think we’d go on tour without that.

Alex: Some kind of series…

Matt: A box-set.

Alex: Kinda really discovered that this last year. It was summat I’d never really got into before.

Nick: Any HBO series.

Alex: (Laughs) Yeah. I’ve really learned to appreciate that sort of continuum, because you can follow a thread.

Matt: You know what you need to do the next day.

What have you been watching?

Alex: We’ve got into Deadwood a bit on the last tour. That’s what’s been missing, I think, for me on this tour, some sort of thing like that.

Have you done The Wire?

Alex: Yeah.  I went Wire mad on that tour. I just got so greedy. I get so greedy with them things.

Matt: I couldn’t catch up.

Jamie: Yeah, he ditched everyone. I got ditched on t’second series!

Matt: Six in t’morning, I could hear him.

Jamie: You’d get up and that [theme] song would be on. It’d just be crisps all over, a bottle of…

Nick: ‘Wire Beast’s been up all night again!’

Alex: ‘Where’d you get that dressing gown from?’

Jamie: Just laying there with crumbs all over him.

Have you ever had any scares at customs? 

Nick: I got searched yesterday actually.

Matt: It was your squeaky wheels, just as I’d said. I said, ‘Them wheels are gonna attract attention.’

Nick: In Germany. A very thorough search, but luckily no glove action.

Jamie: They probably wanted to mend your wheels for you.

Matt: ‘I’ve got summat for that, some GT85.’

Nick: They were really suspicious of me. They really took everything apart and didn’t put it back as neat as I’d put it in.

Alex: At this end, yesterday?

Nick: Yeah, when we arrived in ‘Munchen’.

Alex: They’re quite, like, strict, aren’t they, Bavarian authorities.

Nick: Yeah. They had a look at me belt, everything. All me case and bag. Took everything apart. Then he were like, ‘Where have you come from?’ I went, ‘Barcelona’. He were like, ‘Have you had any contact with drugs in Barcelona?’ I went, ‘No.’ He went, ‘What do you do?’ I said, ‘I’m in a band.’ And he went, ‘Ah’, and then, like, swabbed everything.

Alex: When I got in t’car yesterday, the fella were like, [German accent] ‘If you like to do drugs, do not try and do it in Bavaria.’

American customs scare me most. 

Matt: Yeah, it’s a load of questions.

Alex: ‘What are you doing here?’

Jamie: New Zealand were quite funny. We all got pulled…

Matt: We had to sit in them chairs for a bit…

Jamie: And this guy was asking us directly the last time we ever did drugs. Then someone came over who worked for us…and he soon disappeared rather fast. We were fine. (All laugh)

Alex: I’ve come to quite enjoy the American customs people. (All laugh)

Matt: They’ve always got weird names.

Alex: They’re like, [American accent] ‘So you’re in a band, huh?’ You go, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ ‘What do you do in the band?’ ‘Oh, I’m the singer.’ ‘Yeah? You don’t look like a singer to me.’

Nick: ‘Do you sound like Coldplay?’

Alex: Yeah, ‘What kind of music do you guys play?’

Jamie: ‘Do you sound like Staind?’ I went like, ‘Staind? I know them… Fuckin’ hell!’ It took me ages. ‘Yeah, yeah, we sound a bit like Staind.’ When he said it I were like, ‘Yeah, a bit.’

You’ve said before that you wanted to try and get an album out this year. Do you get any time on the road to do any work on that?

Alex: Not really. That’s a bit of a pain in the arse, not being able to rehearse and work stuff out. I don’t think I write very good songs on t’road. They’re all a bit wonky. You get back and you’re like, ‘Hmmm’.

Does it detach you from what we were talking about earlier, ‘real life’? Does it detach you from the things that you want to be writing about?

Alex: I dunno. You can still use your imagination, but I just think, yeah, in your surroundings there’s always about to be something that’s going to happen. You can’t think. I always write wherever I am, but I dunno if the things that come out when you’re touring around always have the shelf life that the other things do.

Have you got any songs earmarked for the next album?

Alex: Yeah. I mean, there’s some ideas, but we haven’t really had the chance to get out the fine toothed comb.

‘Humbug’ was a departure in sound from your previous albums – do you think you’ll continue in that direction, maybe bring Josh Homme in again?

Alex: Not sure, really. We would like to do something with Josh again – it was terrific for us to go on that adventure – but whether or not it’s this next thing, I’m not sure. And also, like, he’s busy! (Laughs) He’s got a schedule himself, doesn’t he?

You went to record over in his place, so do you think next time you’ll have him over to...

Alex: High Green? (Laughs) Homme in High Green? I quite fancy that.

Nick: He’d look like a superhero in High Green, all the bad genetics there are in High Green. He’d look amazing.

Matt: He’d be the biggest man there.

You’ve released a couple of singles exclusively through Oxfam. What made you decide to do that? 

Jamie: Laurence and Jonny at Domino came to us with that idea – a great idea for the charity reason, and then cos Woolworths and stuff had shut down, but there were always an Oxfam.

Alex: Like, in towns where there perhaps aren’t, like, an Our Price or something.

Do you have to think of more creative ways to get your records out there?

Jamie: Yeah, rather than just sat at home.

Matt: They should think about making the journey exciting – paint paths a nice colour to the record shops.

Alex: The yellow brick road.

Matt: Something that makes people want to walk to a record shop. Even if it’s just free parking. (All laugh)

Jamie: It’s just too easy to buy music now.

How do you feel as artists about the devaluing of music? Does it annoy you that you’re working hard to make something, but people can just pick it up from their friends?

Jamie: I suppose we were never in the industry when it were big money, when people used to sell twenty million albums. Has that ever happened since we’ve been around?

Probably someone like Dido has.

Jamie: Yeah, that were probably the last.

Matt: It’s like, we wouldn’t expect anything like that to happen to us, so…

Alex: I do think there is people that always will want to go and get records.

Matt: Yeah, it won’t change everybody.

Alex: I was reading a couple of months ago about there’s an idea where you won’t even have – you know like you pull songs off iTunes or whatever – but they were saying you subscribe to a database and pay to get ’em…

Jamie: Spotify, that’s what that was.

Alex: Yeah. But you can’t get them on…

It streams the music – you can’t download them.

Alex: But you can’t do that on your phone, can you?

Matt: Yeah, you can do Spotify on your phone if you pay about £10 a month. Nokia did that thing where you can just pay a monthly thing and you can have as many as you want…

Alex: The fella had a quote, he’s like, ‘There’s nothing sexy about an MP3 on your desktop’. (Laughs) He’s like, ‘There’s nothing sexy about having a subscription to a database’. (All laugh) But then you could just sort of buy a record and stand it up against your wall. Not that that’s particularly sexy, but, you know what I mean… I like things that you can stand up.

Jamie: Like you said the other day, everyone’s just gonna have an empty house.

Matt: Yeah, there’s gonna be nothing on t’shelves. Not even books now.

Jamie: No one’s got any photos anymore, no ones’s got any CDs or records…

Matt: You’ll just have a screen and a chair.

Jamie: You’ll just go, ‘Sound. This is sound.’

Matt: With nowt on your wall.

Jamie: You can just have everything [at your fingertips]; turn your fire on, open your curtains…

Alex: You’d get in it for your bath. (All laugh)

[Alex goes into the band’s equipment drawer, pulls out a giant figure of Freddie Mercury in full-on rock pose. “See, he said he likes things that stand up,” Matt says.]

Does being on an independent label give you the freedom to experiment with your marketing or promotions? 

Matt: Yeah. They [Domino] have as many ideas as us for stuff like that, like the Oxfam thing. They tend to think on a similar level, and, at the same time, if we have a suggestion, they’re open to it. It sometimes is a good thing to have a label like Domino, cos they’re experienced in doing weird stuff, and have obviously signed things that aren’t necessarily to make any money or anything, so we’ll listen to them if they have a suggestion, and vice versa. They’d put records out on tins of beans and all sorts. (All laugh)

Jamie: I wanted to do it on a conifer. I wanted to put an MP3 out on a conifer.

Matt: Or just seeds. Christmas tree seeds.

Alex: Yeah. What did they actually do?

Matt: There’s a Jewish guy, I forgot what his name is, and they did it on a kosher chicken noodle soup or something. You buy the soup and you get the code [for the MP3]. Which is good in a way, because he’s just poo-pooing the fact that there’s not much point. It’s an incentive, but it doesn’t get it in the chart, you see. It’s a give-away. So you can sell anything and just have an MP3 code on it. You can sell a car and you’d just get one song.

Jamie: But then it doesn’t count towards t’charts?

Matt: No. The Oxfam thing don’t either, does it. Only the download bit does. You’re not allowed to give away incentives like free stuff, because that’s obviously encouraging people. See, that’s the thing – people might buy the soup and not download the song. ‘I wonder if they make good soup?’

Jamie: When you see a good cover sometimes…

Matt: Yeah, you buy it for the cover.

Alex: Perhaps the epitome of that is you buying a Lady Gaga picture disc. (Laughs)

Matt: Yeah, I did. I’ve been a fool.

Alex: It’s great, cos she’s wearing like a fuckin’ box of Coco Pops or something. (Laughs)

Matt: You could buy that Freddie Mercury thing and get a Queen album, for instance. You don’t need to put it on or owt.

Jamie: You want to make it awkward.

Matt: Buy a chair. Buy a flat pack piece of furniture and you get a code for an album.

Jamie: You have to put your furniture up and send a picture to someone, then they send you the MP3.

Alex: That would make a good video: playing in a bowl of Coco Pops. (All laugh) Remember that kids programme where they used to have to go swimming in a bowl of cereal…

Jamie: Ah yeah. Didn’t they used to do something like that on The Big Breakfast?

Matt: They did, yeah.

Jamie: It were a massive cup of tea and you used to have to get the sugar lumps…

Matt: Yeah, yeah, that was it: One Lump Or Two.

Jamie: One Lump Or Two, yeah!

Alex: It would be great: kid comes down, he’s having his breakfast – Coco Pops – and then, like, Arctic Monkeys are in his cereal. (All laugh)

Jamie: Hot milk, though.

Matt: Hot milk in t’afternoon.

Alex: (Laughs) ‘Why not try Coco Pops after school?’

Jamie: (Laughs) I love that advert!

Alex: It’s the best!

Do your fans give you CDs of their bands?

Matt: They throw them on t’stage! Imagine if you got one of them in t’eye! Fuckin’ hell! Remember in America, a kid got on stage and he had a handful [of CDs] and someone had to grab him to get him off, but he threw them. So he were getting pulled away and he threw them.

Alex: I’ve been getting less CDs though…

Matt: Now they’re throwing download cards at you!

Alex: I got a pair of underpants…

Jamie: People are chucking downloads at you. You’re like, ‘What the fuck?’

Matt: People are throwing zeroes and ones at you – it’s like the credits of The Matrix!

Jamie: You can’t get any flick on a download.

Alex: They’re chucking Spotifys at me. Maybe that’s what them pants were – some sort of code.

I think it’d be a totally different sort of code! Do you listen to the music that fans give you?

Matt: I listened to one that someone gave me the other day. It just were at home though, he just gave it me.

Alex: No more than I’d wear that pair of pants! (Laughs)

Matt: It were just convenient – I were getting in me car and there’s a CD player there.

What’s the strangest thing a fan has given you?

Matt: Just in Japan – everything you get is weird! Like, a monkey hat – it left your own face in but it’s got ears and a tail.

Jamie: And sweets.

Matt: A lot of sweets.

Jamie: We once said, ‘Oh, we like these sweets’ in an interview…

Nick: There’s someone that makes baked goods.

Matt: You got a good one, where it were like a picture of you…

Alex: Yeah, I got like a diagram of myself…

Matt: A diagram, pointing at every bit, and then asking to fill in, like, what his favourite brand of jeans were.

Alex: Hand it back, and then she’d sort of kit me out.

Matt: She’d buy it all! So, like, ‘Favourite shoes? Trainers or boots?’ It would be like that. He’d fill it in and send it back and then she’d buy it. ‘Will this do?’

Alex: Back it came with this jumper that were perfect actually. She really knew me better than I knew meself.

Nick: With baked goods, I know it’s not [spiked], but you never know… It’s probably fine – it’s more than likely fine – but it is a gamble.

Matt: It’s innocent, but someone might have seen that opportunity.

Jamie: I don’t think I’m ever gonna eat a baked good that some stranger’s made. You learn about that. There is a story there…

What’s the first thing you do when you get home after the tour is finished? 

Nick: See your friends and family that you’ve not seen.

Matt: I go and get my photos developed. That’s actually one of the first things I do.

Alex: I usually pick up me guitar. Honestly. It’s a deep breath.

Later that evening, Clash is back in the ping-pong room. The tour manager comes to break bad news to the band - the curtain at the front of the stage is broken. They won't be able to make their usual grand entrance. "Ah, we've got to do it," grins Alex. Do what? "We've been saying on this tour if ever the curtain doesn't work, we've got to go on to this song." Which song? "Black Eyed Peas’ ‘I Gotta Feelin’’," Alex beams. The band are giddily bouncing around, electrified by the prospect of taking the stage to the song that's soundtracked many a menopausal vodka-stained Saturday evening's preparatory gathering.

“But when do we go on?" Matt asks.

"The rap. We gotta wait for the rap," Alex asserts.

"We should wait until "Mazel tov”,” Jamie smirks.

Ten minutes later, Clash is amidst the Offenbach crowd when the lights go out and the song bursts from the PA. A wave of euphoria swells, the irony not lost, and right on cue, just as the Peas declare, "I know that we'll have a ball", the four Monkeys stride towards their instruments.

The nineteen-song set covers their three albums - with Nick Cave's 'Red Right Hand’ thrown in for good measure. The last song before their encore is 'Secret Door’ from 'Humbug’. Just as Matt cracks the snare drum that launches the song's long psychedelic outro, cannons on the roof blast out gold and silver confetti over the joyous crowd below, proving that the Monkeys aren't averse to a bit of showmanship every now and then.

The after party is a subdued affair (well, in Offenbach it's bound to be!), with just the band, some friends, crew, and Clash, diving into the beer and nibbles on offer. A fairly drunken chat with Alex about Johnny Cash, Billie Holiday and Gram Parsons rounds off our time with the band, as they retreat back to the confines of their bus, about to depart for Dusseldor and their next gig.

Such a welcome and warm atmosphere is often rare backstage, especially with a band as celebrated as this, but the Monkeys - ever changing and ever surprising - are beginning to make a habit of defying expectations. Growing up has never been such fun.

[ilikethisacompletelynormalamount]

Congratulations to Co-creators Andrew Scott, Simon Stephens, Sam Yates, Rosanna Vize, and the whole VANYA crew for their Olivier Award win for Best Revival!

[ciwol10932]

DIR EN GREY   京  

25TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR22 FROM DEPRESSION TO________

理由 (WAKE) random screenshots

[taminoarticles]

— Tamino for Gazet van Antwerpen, February 2017 (x)

Child prodigy Tamino, after recognition in 'De Nieuwe Lichting': “I don't want to be the new Jeff Buckley”

Finding shelter with the management of dEUS and Balthazar, and being allowed to debut on the record label of Het Zesde Metaal and Trixie Whitley: things are going fast for Tamino. A week after the 20-year-old from Antwerp was chosen as one of the laureates of Studio Brussel's De Nieuwe Lichting, he captivated Flanders with the captivating song Habibi. “But I don't want to be the Flemish Jeff Buckley,” emphasizes the confident young man.

gunter jacobs Saturday, February 11, 2017 at 8:53 PM

Tamino impresses. In November he already made jaws drop when he was a guest in Trix in the Radio 1 session of Het Zesde Metaal. Listeners from Studio Brussels voted him last week in the final of De Nieuwe Lichting as one of the laureates from more than 800 promising young artists. Since then, more and more people are discovering this special twenty-year-old singer-guitarist.

The comments on YouTube under the clip of his first single Habibi do not lie. "It's been a long time since I've been so overwhelmed by a voice and a melody," someone writes. “Absolutely beautiful. Beautiful chord progressions and what a vocal range,” another new fan exults.

Tamino does not come completely out of nowhere. “I've been playing music in all kinds of groups since I was fourteen, from punk and desert rock to more danceable music. Solo I now bring the music that I have to make on my own.” His name has been buzzing in Antwerp for a long time. Last year he also did support programs for Trixie Whitley and Bazart.

Nice reactions

“Especially after the Radio 1 session in Trix, I noticed that suddenly a lot of people had discovered me. When I performed in café Trefpunt in Ghent afterwards, not everyone could even enter. With De Nieuwe Lichting I have gained a whole new audience. While I didn't even expect to make it to the final. I even doubted for a long time whether I should register; I don't like competition in music. That is why I will no longer participate in competitions, although I received many nice reactions after De Nieuwe Lichting. A friend who has seen that it is now starting to work out for me, let me know that she is inspired to do her own thing as well. I think that's super cool.”

Named by his opera-loving parents after the prince from Mozart's The Magic Flute, Tamino's full name is Tamino-Amir Moharam Fouad, has partly Egyptian roots and lives in Mortsel with his Belgian mother. “I do want to live alone, but for now I find living at home especially useful,” he confesses. “I lived in Amsterdam for 2.5 years to study at the conservatory there. Two weeks ago I decided to take a break. Because my education really can't be combined with my career for a while.”

From Mortsel to Amsterdam

“At the conservatory I follow the pop training. The focus is on their own music. When I was seventeen I went there on my own. Believe me, going from Mortsel to Amsterdam was a huge step. There I learned to stand my ground and become more assertive. The fact that students come from all over, from Denmark and Germany to Latvia and Israel, has broadened my horizon.”

“I can also easily do my thing in Antwerp. I don't belong to a particular scene, but thanks to Tom Pintens, with whom I recorded my first record, I do get to know many well-known musicians. When we were recording at his house, Gregory Frateur and Het Zesde Metaal would sometimes drop by.”

For that first record, a five-song EP that will be released in May, Tamino has a deal with Unday Records, the record label of Het Zesde Metaal, Trixie Whitley and Dans Dans, among others. In anticipation of that debut, the compelling Habibi has been launched as a digital business card. “That number is already old. I wrote it two years ago, when I was eighteen, in Amsterdam,” the young man clarifies. To add with a timid laugh: “Like many songs, it is about love. I don't want to say more about it. Let people make their own interpretation of it.”

Tamino's partly oriental roots shine through in Habibi. His grandfather, Moharam Fouad, turns out to be a well-known singer-actor in the Arab world. “Unfortunately he passed away when I was five. Well, I didn't know him. Yet my grandfather plays a role in what I do. At home, my mother always puts on Arabic music, including my grandfather's. I have many recordings of him that inspire me.”

Tamino tells how he rescued a decaying guitar from his grandfather's house while cleaning up. He is currently having it refurbished to give it a second life. Although he was born in Belgium, his heart also leans towards the Middle East. “I lived in Egypt for a while, but unfortunately I don't know Arabic. I would like to learn that someday. The intensity in my singing and the romantic character of my music come much more from that world. Jeff Buckley also listened a lot to Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, hey.”

Melancholy

The fact that many label Tamino as the Flemish Jeff Buckley only bothers him a little. “On the one hand I feel flattered, on the other hand every boy with a guitar who sings high and emotionally is quickly called that. I didn't even know Jeff Buckley's music when friends pointed out the similarity to me. Ever since I listened to a live CD of his at my mother's, I get it. But I sing with the voice I have. I don't want to be the next Jeff Buckley. I think it's okay that people describe my music as 'for fans of Jeff Buckley'.”

Just like the lamented American cult hero - drowned in 1997 and best known for his Leonard Cohen cover Hallelujah - Tamino brings his soulful songs without much frills; sometimes subdued and with a deep crooner voice, then fiercely lashing out with an angelic falsetto. There is a spiritual and melancholic edge to his intriguing songs. “Sincere melancholic music,” Tamino calls it himself.

“Everything I do stems from that melancholic feeling. That's why most of my songs are slow. But I also have uptempo songs, you know. Dynamics in a show is important.”

However, Tamino also turns the Arctic Monkeys hit I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, which he covers for Studio Brussel, into a ballad. “I first wanted to do something by Leonard Cohen, but they thought that was too unknown at Studio Brussels. I'm also a fan of Arctic Monkeys. By playing that song slower, I make it my own.”

“I myself listen to a wide variety of music, from Vashti Bunyan and Thelonious Monk to Nick Cave and Radiohead. And don't forget: dEUS! That's a group I grew up with and look up to. I think it's really cool how Tom Barman and also Mauro (who played his last concert with the group on Friday in the Lotto Arena, ed.) have always done their thing.”

Tamino is proud that he has now found accommodation with Musickness, the management of dEUS and Balthazar, among others. “Compared to three months ago, it feels like I've climbed a step higher,” he muses. “From now on I'm going to be selective with performances. I've performed so many times, sometimes in pubs for ten people. From now on it is important that the setting is right and that people really come for my music. Ticket sales for my concert in the AB-Club in Brussels have just started. There I will present my first mini album on May 16.”

Tamino undeniably has a bright future, but not a dream scenario. “I hope that I can gradually play all over Europe and mean something to a small audience everywhere. Then I would be very satisfied. I may also play with others in the future. I don't always want to keep making music on my own.”

INFO

Concerts as support act for Het Zesde Metaal on 16/02 in Antwerp (De Studio), 10/03 Ghent (Handelsbeurs), 17/03 Hasselt (Muziekodroom). Also 30/04 Ghent (De Vooruit) and 16/05 Brussels (AB, CD presentation).

[babycharmander]

TW ANTISEMITISM. THERE WILL BE DEPICTIONS OF ANTISEMITIC ARTWORK AND TEXT IN THIS POST.

Okay so, this is not the kind of post I normally make, ever, nor a sort of post I ever wanted to make. But this is an incredibly important issue that goes beyond fandom stuff, and I've talked with a few other people about it to confirm that it is something concerning.

I want to start by saying that I am not Jewish, but I know that you should never let antisemitism get its foot in the door. (If anyone who reads this is Jewish and needs to correct me on anything, please do so immediately.)

This was posted to the tags yesterday:

[ID: A screenshot of a post from @/liu4ka. The caption at the top reads "well he looks at me / and i look at him / and then he smiles" in very small, stylized text. The image below is artwork of Otto, facing right, with his eyes squinted and his mouth in a skewed, toothy grin, with his hands held up in a strange way. /end ID]

This picture looks perfectly fine at first glance... but the thing is, that caption you see there was not the original caption. I managed to get a screenshot of it before it was changed, and the original caption was this:

[ID: A screenshot of the original caption of the above post, which reads "well he looks at me / and i look at him / and then he smiles like sly jew" /end ID]

That's... a weird way to describe a smile. I'd wondered if this was referencing something, and apparently the first two lines are lyrics from a Weird Al song, but the third line is definitely not. That was making alarm bells ring in my mind, along with the pose Otto was in (which I'll explain in a moment).

Still, I wanted to give this user the benefit of a doubt, because it's entirely possible to unknowingly say something that sounds Bad. So I looked at their other account on VK (which is a Russian website that is, as I understand it, similar to Facebook--they have the same name there and post some of the same art). It didn't take me long before I found... this (photo taken with the google translate app). (I hate sharing this, but I need to show proof here):

[ID: A photo of a computer screen taken from the Google Translate app. It features a character facing right, with their eyes narrowed and with a toothy grin on their face and their hands clasped in a specific way in reference to the "happy merchant" Nazi meme. The caption reads "SCARY JEWISH MUSIC PLAYS." /end ID]

It's not in the screenshot here, but the post this was in also had a song linked with it whose title directly referenced the "happy merchant" meme.

If you're not familiar with that meme, please look it up, as I'm NOT comfortable putting that image on my blog. But it's an image people should be familiar with because it is VERY FREQUENTLY referenced by white supremacists and nazis, and that's what's being referenced here.

Obviously not every single piece of art with a character giving a sly look is going to be a reference to that meme, but CONTEXT is important. The Otto image isn't posed exactly like the meme--the hands are not the same--but alongside the original caption AND given the other art this same artist has drawn, I don't think there's any room for doubt here.

What also doesn't help the case is that there was misinformation going around that Otto was canonically Jewish, so I don't think any of this is coincidental.

I feel awful writing this stuff up. I never wanted to make a post like this, but this was a case where I felt like I should not remain quiet. Once again, this is something that goes beyond fandom. Antisemitism is not something you ever, EVER want let through the door, ANYWHERE. I do not want it in this community, and you shouldn't either.

If any member of the Jewish community wants to correct me on anything or add to this, please do so.

Thank you.

[kerubimcrepin]

LIVEBLOG: Dofus Novel 4, The Thirsty Beheader

I apologize for my absence. Translating this novel has burned me out from the fandom in a pretty major way, and I also got into a different fandom in the meantime and am, like, three 4k word chapters deep into a longfic for said new fandom. Besides that, I had a depressive episode and went insane for a while. Basically, I've been a bit busy.

At the same time I release this post, I have uploaded the new, updated versions of both translations (since this liveblog is mostly a reason for me to reread and fix stuff) to MEGA and VK, so I recommend you download the new versions!

I will mostly be copying the text directly, to bypass tumblr's image restriction, but some screenshots will be provided. For example:

If pride is a sin, then the typesetting and cleaning I went through with this book will have me go to hell after I die. (I don't think I'm a master, but I did a pretty good job, ok?)

A cart had just entered the District of the Lost Steps. It stopped in front of the store, as two Srams* got out.

I love the internal consistency of the street being named here. Thank you, author of this book, for caring.

“Are you sure about this,” asked the little guy, “Is this really the right place?” “Yeah,” replied the tall one, “There aren't thirty-six Shushu* houses in the neighborhood.”

LMAO this is something Kerubim is actually known for, huh?

At the time that this book takes place in, joris can't read very well. Cute...

Also, hehe... I am pretty proud of the way this part of the book was cleaned + the font + the layers and colors and opacity I applied to the text, to make it fit in with the paper.

^^^ This is me btw, during this entire post. ^^^

The entirety of the epilogue and prologue are typed on top of cleaned backgrounds sourced from the scan. The rest of the book is typed in front of a digital background. This artistic choice was made because....... You can't set different pages to be different colors in word. You have to overlay some image or a textbox, if you want a page to be a different color.

Anyway — I had a lot of fun searching for the fonts from this book! (and far less fun searching for appropriate fonts for the Russian translation since none of the fonts this book uses have cyrilic versions...)

The fonts this book uses are: Dimbo, Chelsea Market, and Aleo. Google them for all your Dofus Aux Tresors de Kerubim related needs.

The fonts I chose to use in the russian translation are: Brydan Write, Correction Brush, Curinn, and Itim. I just had to make do with what I had, ok?

“My Papycha said it's urgent!” exclaimed Joris, “He could be in danger. Maybe he's being attacked by the Thirsty!” Even Pupuce looked worried. Simone reread the message, thinking out loud: “The Huffing Bow Wow tavern is in the Pandawa district... There's plenty of bamboo milk there. Maybe the neighborhood is overrun by the Thirsters?” “And soon, the whole city will be under attack!” concluded Joris.

Nobody knows how to escalate a situation better than a 7yo with anxiety. God bless <3

The Ecaflip goes full "war machine" mode: he cuts and slices through the living dead for the entire night, and when the golden disk of the sun finally rises over the horizon, the scenery is carpeted with the Thirsty. The region is saved. Kerubim becomes a legend. To thank him, the local lord offers him the... “Hey... Joris? Are you listening?” asked Simone. She began shaking the boy, who, abruptly snapping out of his reverie, mumbled: “Huh? What?”

Joris is so normal. So sane.

“Bye-bye,” added Bowiknif. But Luis slammed the door in their faces, roaring: “You're not going anywhere!” “Oh yeah?” hissed Bakstab, “Is that so?” “Would you like us to chop up your friends with a Brakmarian steel sword of Chouque?” questioned the other, “Or with Samuel J. Axe?” Luis muttered what sounded like a string of expletives, before reluctantly opening the door to the two robbers, who bolted out without further ado.

I'm LITERALLY fucking insane about this.

“I'm sorry,” said Luis, “I tried to hold them back, but...” “We know, we saw everything,” the girl cut him off, “You did your best, Luis.”

Actually deranging. Also explains why Luis did fuckall about Sipho, Harebourg, and Ush — there's just not much he can actually do.

She spotted a Dragoturkey standing near a trough. In two strides, she reached the animal, untied it, and climbed onto its back like an experienced Dragogirl*. “Let’s go!” she said to the boy.

This once again raises a some questions about Simone's past — when did she learn how to ride dragoturkeys? Is it the same reason why she knows how to fight, at least a little?

Then again, maybe she's just being an Osamodas here.

I love, love, love the Simone&Joris content in this book. Their bond is so important to me... She's the aunt who stepped up.

This art is so nice...

They had run like mad through half the city, arrived at the wrong address, turned back just as a thunderstorm broke out, wandered around in the rain in the Pandawa district, and FINALLY arrived at the Huffing Bow Wow Tavern, a large, long building with a thatched roof.

They're so fucking stupid. I love them.

“Ah, there you are!” called out Kerubim, “I almost thought you’d make me wait some more!”

I wish english also had the phrase "I almost thought you'd be late" as a cunty response when someone's an hour or three late to an event. I don't think the english translation I made conveys the sheer frustration.

Kerubim raised an eyebrow — a perfect copy of the circumflex accent:

I struggled with this part a lot in russian sjfkgdfg. It made me nerd out a little bit too.

I didn't have a lot of comments here, but eh. It was nice to finally get this over with dfjgkdsfg.

[endollvors]

Taking a Propaganda

Propaganda is definitely a thing. It's been covered before, probably more throughly, that the Auradon sponsored Posters and Television channels on the Isle are, kinda wack. Like, that's a section of the budget that's being used judiciously when the main source of food is canonically garbage.

Consider also, the way that Mal, is framed in news footage in Descendants 2. (Rags to riches success story. Aspirational, A triumph of Auradon, look at her now. She's an example. etc.)

VK day in D3 being a holiday. The fact that the applications are Collected the same day as the children are Selected.

That's not what we're here for though. I'm taking you on a journey.

Ok, so School of Secrets, the promotional youtube shorts, not the book series, is I think, technically canon. It's canon the same way a guest passed out in the laundry room at a house party is still attending. They're a minute long and they fascinate me.

This is a screenshot from Episode 9. Where PC culture cancels the school play, (Weird series) which was Supposed to be an adaptation of What's that Spell? a stage dramatization of Maleficent's attack on Aurora's kingdom. Other provided options are 12 Angry Dalmatians, Book of Sultan, and 7 Brides for 7 Dwarfs before they settle on My Fair Lady and the Tramp. May I just say before I get going, fun puns. I would watch the hell out of Tramp's Pygmalion arc.

This begs an interesting question though. Because this isn't, in the world of the series, fiction. Not only are all the plays about a terrible thing that happened, they are about terrible things that happened within living memory to specifically the parents of these kids' peers. Things that caused so much damage that a Generational Prison Island was considered a proportional response and it's an incredibly unpopular policy decision to want to change that. Now, imagine for a moment, being a parent, and going to see your darling pumpkin be an extra in the school play, and then its about how your best friend's stepmother tried to get her killed when she was 14, and also you're a character. Your kid didn't get the role.

They do this twice a year.

Twice a year, the AKs go on stage to replay their parents' story and celebrate the overthrow of a villain. This is some 9/11 Never Forget shit.

[heckmate]

Machine 47

I was able to find more information on Machine 47 thanks to a Russian Knock-knock VK group. One user stated that only IPL was bound by the non-disclosure agreement and that users can post freely about it, and thankfully one of the backers (who I will credit below) documented a lot about it!

Disclaimer: I do not speak Russian at all and everything I was able to learn was through Google translate. Sorry if anything was misinterpreted.

The gist: Machine 47 was a reward for the $47 tier on Kickstarter. It’s a 3D room consisting of a chair, a clock, and a book. The user is to write down a wish in the book and stamp it - the instructions were to write a wish centered on the self instead of others. Then, the user is to leave through the door.

Occasionally, the clock would speed up, but once the user wrote their wish down, the clock would stop. I think the clock also corresponded with the user’s PC time; I'm not sure how exactly this worked with the user's PC time and how it was able to keep corresponding with it...

I’m not sure what else it was supposed to do, sadly. I couldn’t find anymore info. However, thanks to VK user Ilya Batischev (Ilia Batishchev on YouTube) there is a video and also a file with instructions on how to use the Machine (I will put both under the read more) as well as a screenshot of the notebook in which the user was to put their wish:

Here is a screenshot of the notebook, translated from Russian by google translate (credit once more to Ilya Batischev):

(according to them, the 47 was a recreation of the stamp in MS paint ;D)

Lastly, here are the translated instructions. They come from a file called 47_RUS.rtf:

There are many things in the world that go beyond the natural order. Some miracles are created by human hands, and some happen by themselves. Sometimes it is difficult to understand exactly how: through intense effort, through a happy accident, or in some way beyond our understanding. Undoubtedly, the course of events can be influenced by human will. With our close attention we reveal hitherto invisible fragments of reality. Sometimes we are given the chance to consciously and responsibly choose what kind of world we would like to live in. If you want something sincerely and clearly state your will, reality will definitely respond. Before you is something like a wishing machine. She is made of equations, quanta, November leaves, chance and good will, and yes, she can make your wish come true. To do this, you need to carry out a simple ritual (guess the correct sequence of actions - in this case, this is the very necessary work). 1. Mathematics is responsible for accuracy, probability theory is responsible for randomness, but only human will can direct these forces in the right direction. Watch your thoughts and don't think that this is just some kind of joke. 2. Take your time. Composure is required for the machine to operate properly. We believe that desire must ripen there, inside. Be patient and the solution will definitely come. 3. Even the most powerful computer cannot do the internal work for you. Once you are in the machine, focus and formulate a desire. Write it and leave the room. Everything else will happen in reality. 4. Inside the machine you need to do three things. Which ones you will have to guess on your own, but here are the tips: Time, Word, Sensitivity. The machine may not know what you're doing, but someone is watching you and maybe seeing everything. There are several rules to follow when you formulate a wish. We don’t impose artificial restrictions, we’ve just experimented with it a little. We confidently declare that this is not a "monkey's paw": it will not burden your desire with evil and will not try to deceive you. But you still need to handle words carefully, so you should follow safety precautions: 1. Try not to be too vague. The machine will understand you if only you understand yourself. 2. Don't wish for anything that would affect other people's lives. It's better to focus on your own life. Only the strongest desires can change the destinies of others. 3. Do not wish for what you yourself, deep down in your soul, consider impossible. Establishing Eternal Peace or changing Planck's constant is a worthy goal, but it is unlikely that you will want it with all your heart. Otherwise, nothing will come of it. And please always be aware of the possible consequences. One way or another, try to be sincere and accurate. Then the Machine will serve you well. She has already helped us. And remember - the world consists of what you want to see in it.

(Note: Google Translate translated the word "machine" to "car" a few times, so I changed it back to machine)

All of this info can be found, in Russian, in the linked VK group--just search "47"!

[im14andivebeen14foramonth]

absolutely no pressure to answer this within the next ten years or ever but!! the descendants au!!!

who do you picture as who? are their parents the same characters as in the movies or are they different? and is there any particular thing in the plot that changes from the movie? :0

i’d love to hear literally any other thoughts you have abt this too!! those movies were my life

heyyy! sorry this took so long to get to I meant to answer ages ago lol

So ngl I STRUGGLED trying to figure out who some of them were going to be lmao but I essentially narrowed it down to this:

The villain kids (VKs) are the greasers

The kids from Auradon are the socs

Everyone has the villain parents from the movie rather than their own parents. So instead of Darry, Soda, and Pony being the Curtis parent's kids, they're Maleficent's kids

Speaking of the Curtis bros they're just kind of...all Maleficent's kids lol. So instead of just Mal there's three of them. BUT Pony takes on Mal's role from the movie pretty much (trust this is going to cause some discourse between the brothers later on >:))

Moving on to the rest of the gang and this part was DIFFICULT

Two-bit - Carlos (bc he's a goof)

Jay - Steve (bc he's competitive and sporty AND a goof as well)

Dally and Johnny are where I struggled the most bc there was only Evie's spot left so I decided fuck it, let Johnny be Evie (bc Evie and Mal are besties and Pony is Mal in this au) (also Johnny deserves his sassy girl moment)

Then I decided that Dally being Mother Gothel's kid just felt fitting for some reason so that's where he fits in

Moving on to the socs!!

Ben - Cherry (but Pony and Cherry's relationship is going to be platonic in this instead of romantic like in the movie)

Audrey - Bob

Chad - Randy

Jane - Marcia

And I sooo wanted to fit Paul in here somewhere bc him and Darry need to have their little friendship that ends in betrayal but I just don't know whose kid Paul would be. I tried to go for someone blonde who wasn't already taken and all google was giving me was Kristoff or John Smith so idk maybe one of them

And just to make things interesting we're going to toss in the Shepards

Uma's pirate crew - The Shepards

Uma - Tim

Curly - Harry (but they're brothers instead of whatever weird love thing they had in the movie)

Gil - Angela (sorry girl I know he's dumb and all but I have to put you somewhere)

When they were younger Tim and Darry used to be best friends but then something happened between them which is why they end up fighting later on like how they did in the second movie

Okay SO that's what I have for characters as of right now, and I think I'll do a follow up post pretty soon with more ideas that I have cooking up!

Also here are some screenshots of me fighting for my life trying to figure out some of these characters lmao

[artificial-absinthe]

2, 3, 5, 6, 14, 23, and 27 for tfp Soundwave? :3

2. Favorite canon thing about this character.

I couldn't tell, I love every single thing about him. From his mystery to his abilities,  the fact that he's utterly weird and extraordinary, even to Cybertronians. His spindly and equally weird design, both menacing and graceful. The features that no other known character has (in tfp) such as the cables, the visor,  the privileged processor, the partnership with a minicon. How he seems to be regarded almost as infallible as Megatron, and manages to always succeed. His mysterious (thus vague) but present personality, detached but justifiedly smudge. It's hard to chose one of his many features, for I believe that the sum of them all is what makes him so fascinating.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

That he, Allegedly, has a face under the visor. It's taken as canon due to that one panel from the titan comics, but it has always seem dubious to me, because it looked just like a coloring mistake (made several times with other characters as well in these comics). One panel he had a visor, the next one "no visor", the immediate following visor again. There was no context to it,  there wasn't any explanation why he would be randomly retracting and placing the visor back in place with no apparent reason. Additionally, there never was any proper confirmation as far as I'm concerned.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

Polar plateau by the Frozen Autumn.

6.What's something you have in common with this character?

Mh... perhaps some personality traits?  Assuming that my interpretations are correct. He seems like somehow a loner, and I'm that.

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

Assuming that I'm properly understanding the notion... I'd say gothic-cyberpunk. If that makes sense.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

One of many, because there are several astonishing pictures of him, both screenshots and arts.

This one by Nikel at vk

And... 27? There's no 27. ☠️ Did you meant 21? Or 26? 🐈‍⬛

Thanks for the ask. 🦇

From this ask game

[romance-club-daily]

A little bit late, but I'm gonna jump in on the recent "RC uses AI art" bandwagon. I understand where you're coming from — I'm an aspiring translator and even before the whole AI craze I had no idea how tf I'm gonna look for a job once I'd graduate, but now the situation's even more dire. That being said, I think we really really REALLY shouldn't jump to conclusions about in this case because

do we actually have any proof that it's AI generated art besides "it looks like that"? Because AI... doesn't really have a "style", it's literally gonna look like the art you feed to it/what it finds on the web. I've already seen at least one instance of artists being told that their art is actually AI generated just because it looks similiar. CGs in all stories are usually more realistic-looking, imo, and showcase the biggest differences between different artists' styles. All of this is speculation is conjecture, but like, so is the whole thing about RC using AI art in the first place. So I'll just move on to more solid argument

just last month, on August 4th, RC announced an open call for hiring artists. I guess this vacancy was targeted at CIS countries since as far as I'm aware they didn't crosspost it to Facebook or Twitter or anywhere besides VK and Telegram channel. On 28th they stopped accepting applications from artists and are, most likely, currently continuing the tryouts. My point is: what kind of company would resort to using free AI and then go and hire real humans you actually have to pay? It just doesn't make sense

Here is my translation of these posts about the whole hiring business and screenshots. I'll send you links via another submission or ask because I'm afraid tumblr might nuke this one

translation, if anyone knows russian and thinks I made a mistake of some sort feel free to correct me, after all there's a lot of artist argot I'm not too sure about:

august 4th:

2D artist vacancy

Friends, we announce that we started hiring artists to Romance Club team. ❤

We're YSI, an independent game development sudio from Moldova, that creates interactive visual novels. We're looking for people who may become a part of our big family.

If you're a talented character and/or game locations 2D artist (or you're just great at drawing), then you're exactly who we're looking for!

✅ What do we want from the applicants?

- creativity and rich imagination;

- to be professionaly versed in 2D graphics softwares (experience with Adobe Photoshop is necessary);

- to be able to draw by hand using a graphic tablet;

- your portfolio is necessary.

❗All of the applicants will be given a test assignment❗

✅ Why you should choose Romance Club:

- friendly young team as well as modern office in the capital of Moldova;

- to work with experienced professionals in informal and inspiring environment;

- opportunity to realize your own creative ideas;

- exciting long-term projects;

- fair wage + bonuses;

- possible career development;

- game dev is cool!

If you're interested, send us your portfolio at jobs @ yourstoryinteractive. com and briefly tell us about your skills

August 28th:

2D artist vacancy, applications closed

Friends, we finished the hiring process for artists❗

Huge thanks to those who sent us their resume. Everyone turned out to be incredibly talented and interesting.

✅ Candidates that received an e-mail from us move on to the next stage of tryouts

Our apologies for not being able to reply to everyone personally. We received a great deal of applications and, unfortunately, couldn't possibly contact everybody.

Thank you for showing interest in Romance Club and working for our company!

With all due respect,

Your Story Interactive

As a side note, it is possible that some of the artists may use AI without their hire-ups and writers and so on even knowing that — unlikely, I don't have any proof of that, but it's a possibility. But I feel that the only thing we're doing here is treading muddy waters of conspiracy theories. I'm repeating myself, but it just seems unlikely that there's actually any AI involved when the company in question just started hiring new artists. You may argue that they had to use AI for the most recent update because of the staff shortage but once again: let's not dive into conspiracy theories. Okay, I took longer than I needed to, but I rest my case

_____________________________________________________________

I agree with you on some points, it could be the artist using it without the company knowing and it is a possibility (although I think would be naive of them). But I believe that hiring artists and using AI is something that can happen simultaneously, in the beginning. One thing may not have to do with the other either. That said, it has caught our attention because the style has changed drastically from one update to the next and is very similar to how AI-generated images look. The public used to complain that the characters didn't have realistic poses and out of nowhere they change some to something ultra-realistic (without being able to see a real evolution until reaching this point), almost like a painting which happens to be very similar to how the AI works with images. It's something to be suspicious of, we shouldn't straight accuse them, but being suspicious and sharing our distrust is valid, given that many companies have recently been doing this. And if an employee is using AI and they know about it, It has to be approved by someone at the company, and it carries the company name. I don't think they're that naive (an artist's style changes suddenly and no one wonders why).

Since when they see that using AI is cheaper (or costs almost nothing) and it's fast, they have to make a decision, ethical or not.

Let's see what will happen, but I hope for a good outcome! I love RC stories and would be shame if they go for this path.

And of course, this is absolutely my opinion on this, you can agree or not and that's ok for me.

[quackpeach]

I didn't know there were Russian FNAFHS fans

How did you come to know the series?

Most of the fans are Spanish speakers, what was it that drove you to the series enough to watch it, in spite of the language barrier?

YAY FIRST QUESTION 💥

So, the story is long, but I will try to describe it briefly and in detail <З

I was in 7th grade when I was 13 years old. Then I had a FNAF and Undertale hyperfixation phase (year 2017, I knew about these fandoms since 2015, when Undertale just appeared ( this is an important detail)) while watching clips and edits about fnaf, song covers, which i loved, i stumbled upon either a cover of "i can't fix you", or a " al revés", And it blew my mind! The Spanish language opened up to me in a new way, I fell in love with it wholeheartedly for its sound, and here the characters are similar to the characters of FNAF, they sing beautifully and the animation is pleasant! Starting to climb along the Edo channel, I developed a new special interest, the study of which shaped my personality from 13 to 19 years old (and I still continue to develop theories in my head and love this series, despite understanding that it's bad in some places). Speaking of the language barrier... It wasn't a limit for me at the age of 13, LOL, I understood everything on an intuitive level, for some time I translated other people's comics about fnafhs (with links to the author, of course) and started making subtitles in Russian for several episodes, using Google Translate! It was... Well, wow. The powers of autism and ADHD are strong. Now, of course, I understand the series and the characters better, but back then it was something. I also find it amusing that I was able to open up a whole world of Eddochan's creativity to a group of my friends (at that time there were 20 of them, most of whom I only knew online), as well as create a role-playing conference for around 30 people and a group on VK, where I posted those translations and my first fan arts. There were and are about 200 subscribers, which is not insignificant to me.

As evidence of my creative actions, archival files and screenshots from the end of 2017 to the beginning of 2018, it was amusing. It was the best time of my creativity lol

[ciwol10932]

DIR EN GREY   京  

25th Anniversary TOUR22 FROM DEPRESSION TO________

-｢a knot｣LIMITED EXTRA-

random screenshots

[trex-myers]

My collab with the most charming and amazing Laurie - @spooky-hey

We did it for DBD-ask group on VK. I'm drawing answers as Michael Myers there. So here I did Michael and backgrounds. And the questinion was «why Haddonfield is so heavily flooded with flowers» to which this screenshot was attached:

And yes, there's an Easter egg - we've added lines from one famous interview with Halloween actors ;)

[thetimelordbatgirl]

I know I reblogged posts before with these screenshots but I still got annoyed seeing these pages, like...the way Audrey's page acts like she always believed she'd be queen when prior merch like her diary said that was her grandma, not her...and the way they paint Audrey as a bitter and jealous ex while conviently ignoring that a, Ben and Mal only started dating after Ben was love spelled by Mal and under the love spell Ben publicly dumped Audrey in favor of Mal and b, Audrey ultimately lost everything after that, mainly her friends as evident by her lyrics in Queen of Mean.... Plus the way they have her say she apologized, but because they didn't mention the love spell and such, didn't mention she got Mal saying sorry finally.... Oh its just giving Descendants still being shit with their characters of color when they hurt by white characters...

And just, acting like Mal felt guilt about leaving behind the VKs on the Isle in D2 when if anything, she saw the Isle as a holdiay resort of sorts as she ran right back to it and only Evie actually thought about the VKs alongside Ben eventually, let alone in D3 was the one to instantly come up with closing the barrier forever and therefore, leaving all the kids on it... Getting Auradon to accept the VKs my ass. Though at least her pages acknowledged she used magic in bad ways like messing with students and the love spell and trying to fit in as lady of the court, rare of Descendants to acknowledge Mal's fuck ups nowadays.... But also saying she was always meant to be queen.....still a yikes from me there- giving a girl who had power on the Isle and used it to mistreat everyone she could and get away with it more power is just...not a great idea- therapy before more power please.

[gauntermetaverse]

Ah, dear moderator of "like-minded" group in VK, yes, you, casting that wide net for the fruits of others' labor and slipping them quietly onto your group page as a stealth master without unnecessary noise. You gather the works—art, screenshots, creations painstakingly crafted with time, skill, perhaps a few muttered curses. Present them in your showcase, gather appreciation, but what's left for the source? Silence. How very… quaint. But you called me "friend," didn’t you? A term suggesting more than silent acquisition.

Now, here's a thought: friends, in my humble experience, engage. They say "hello," they chat, they share a nod, perhaps a wink, and the odd spark of appreciation. They give credit, offer likes, engage in that rare human delicacy called acknowledgment. Artists, creators—they don’t just spin these things from the void to fill your group's aesthetic; they create for recognition, for reaction, for that barest hint of reciprocated interest. Consider this: these works, even those crafted with AI, don’t fall from the sky. They take effort, intention, and, yes, a bit of artful mischief. A small nod, a simple "thank you," or dare I suggest, a like—it’s not much to ask, is it?

So, yes, maybe we are strangers indeed—each of us watching, masked, through a narrow crack in a worn wooden fence, curious but guarded, glancing but never speaking. Isn’t that the nature of it? A dance of observation without true engagement. You, administration, gather and display my creations, my words, each carefully crafted mask of mine, and yet, you never ask what lies beneath. You collect, you copy, even translate—often poorly—but all from a safe distance, your gaze fixed but never truly connecting.

You call us "like-minded," but we’re merely reflections in opposing mirrors, aren’t we? You gaze from your side, editing and posting, but never with the curiosity to reach out and ask what each image, each line, truly means. There’s no attempt to understand my vision or how it might add to your own. As if I am not able to answer. Just a silent lifting of what you like, and a quick translation that loses half its meaning in the process.

Ah, I see it—you’re simply doing your job, keeping it clean, keeping it professional. Nothing personal, right? But tell me, would I still be me if I didn’t want to make it personal? If I didn’t want to push past the polite distance and turn this into something real, something that breathes?

So I ask you, administration—do you have a soul back there? Do you care about the artists and their art, or is it just another item in the daily checklist? Because I want to know who I’m really dealing with. I want to see the human behind the label, the individual behind the echoing “we.” If we’re truly to be “like-minded,” perhaps it’s time you showed a sliver of your own.