#so BASICALLY no one is ever going to let bohn live

[0ffgun]

Duen’s friends // Bohn’s friends

requested by anonymous

[whumpprompts]

Songs that inspire me

I love music. It’s probably my number one source of inspiration. And since I’m probably not alone in this, I decided to put together a little list of songs that inspire me. I divided them by the inspiration, since different songs inspire different kinds of things. Maybe this can be helpful to some of you! 

Naturally, there are more songs that I listen to than just these, but these are the ones that inspire me the most. 

List under the cut!

Happy platonic love :’)

Aka all things sweet, bromantic, and lovey - songs that say “I would die for you” and make me want to write some fluffy found family.  

save me from the monster in my head by Welshly Arms. // Cute, soft, loving music. Lyrics tell about the feeling of hopelessness and fear, and asking the other person to stay by their side and save them. This was released last week and oh boi I love it.

Brother by Kodaline. // One of my favorite songs. Slow and tender. Chorus says “If I was dying on my knees, You would be the one to rescue me, And if you were drowned at sea, I'd give you my lungs so you could breathe.” Need I say more? Ultimate bromance. 1000/10.

All My Friends by The Revivalists. // I don’t know what genre this is. Modern rock, maybe?? No idea. Also idk what sort of vibe this song gives off, but it gives a vibe. I just love the lyrics! The me-person of the song is in their twenties, living their best life, getting high with their friends. They know the friends will stay by their side. Not too emotional of a song, but it’s so cute! The music is happy and the singer sounds good.

Up Down by Boy Epic. // This song has a more cinematic sound to it. Lots of instruments, it sounds amazing. And honestly, I don’t even know why this song reminds me of familiar/platonic love so much, but it does. The lyrics that go “I’m barely breathing, but I’ll follow you down” and “Still fighting my demons, but I’ll follow you down” just hit me somewhere so deep into my emotions, it’s amazing.

My Blood by Twenty One Pilots. // The sound is cute, but I have no idea how to describe it. More pop-ish than rock-ish, and it’s energetic but not too much so. It’s very bromancy, and I adore the lyrics. It’s all about “I’ll go with you,” which, thanks to this song, has become a phrase I want to use in my book at some point. 

Carry You by Ruelle. // Slow, tender, sweet, so loving???? Picks up towards the end, so it also has a slight cinematic feel to it. The me-person swears to keep carrying you when you can’t find your own wings. You’ve lost the will to fight, but she’ll stay by your side. It’s... so many shades of beautiful. The pinnacle of love. it does not get more tender than this. 1000000000/10. But also kinda sad? So this definitely belongs to both categories, this one and the one that comes after this.

Hold on for Your Life by Tommee Profitt, ft. Sam Tinnesz. // A cinematic song that starts out very slow and sad but gradually builds up, and it sounds AMAZING. The me-person is begging for someone to hold on, to not let go - they refuse to say goodbye, because it can’t be time yet. The me-person is also afraid, but they vow “no matter where you go, I’ll find you.” I wasn’t sure whether to put this song into this group or the next one, because it’s kind of both; it’s sad, but also powerful and loving.

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Not so happy platonic love

Aka all things angsty and broken. These songs say “You’re gone but I need you, please don’t leave me alone” or “you aren’t the person I know anymore,” and make me want to take that found family and tear them from each other in the angstiest, cruelest way imaginable.

Brother by Sam Tinnesz. // This song is half acoustic, half.. not. And since I am a sucker for acoustic guitar, I love the sound. The lyrics are angsty as hell! The me-person’s brother has lost his way, and has apparently done something bad or turned evil, and the me-person is scared and worried for him. At the end, they deem “I can’t save you.”

Hell or High Water by Billy Raffoul. // I’d like to thank the video game Days Gone for showing me this song. It’s slow, emotional, and only has guitar for the music. It’s just... aaaah. The me-person has lost their loved one and is, naturally, heartbroken, but they vow not to give up because the loved one wouldn’t want them to. This is a gorgeous song. 

Man or a Monster by Sam Tinnesz, ft Zayde Wolf. // Some sort of rock, but the slower kind. Builds up towards the end. They ask the question, “are you a man or a monster?” and can’t tell which side “you” are on. Whether or not this is aimed at a platonic loved one is up to interpretation, since I don’t think the song ever specifies who it’s singing to, but that’s how I’ve chosen to see it because it sounds more longing than angry.

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Fuck you, you can’t win, you can’t hold me down, go die, I am (or will be) amazing

Aka all the songs that show a middle finger to some evil, annoying entity, and swear to beat them. These make me want to write a scene where the protagonist gains second wind and faces against the antagonist.

Middle Finger by Bohnes. // Again, a style of music I can’t put into a genre. But it sounds powerful and victorious in a... I don’t know, youthful, cocky way? Not too heavy, definitely more pop-ish than rock-ish. The lyrics go “So I put my middle finger up, I’m done being your slave” and “Fists are clenched, I'm fighting, Soul has been ignited, Ain't got time for dyin'.” I’ve known this song for years but I always come back to it when I need this type of motivation.

New Kings by Sleeping Wolf. // Not too fast, but it sounds... dedicated, in a way. Like the singer has really had enough. It’s some type of rock, I guess? And the lyrics all about how the enemy will not win - the heroes refuse to “lay down and die,” and they refuse to stop until they all see that they’re the new kings. Also, I love the part where he sings “And you call yourselves an army?” like yesssss burn them!!!

Bury Me Face Down by grandson. // One of my favorite songs!! A mix between rock and rap, in an alternative sort of way? Not too fast, not too slow. He sings about an army fighting him, but that he won’t give up - and when he dies, you gotta bury him face down. He’s been on the run for his whole life, and he is no stranger to trouble. “It’s only just begun.” 

White Flag by Bishop Briggs. // Some sort of rock again. Powerful, unrelenting. I heard this years ago, but I still come back to it whenever I need a song that sounds good and is about not surrendering. The me-person vows never to wave their white flag - she’s going to keep fighting until she wins. Also, the line “Don't you know I ain't afraid to shed a little blood?” hits me so hard into my “omg that’s amazing please never stop” nerve, it’s amazing.

Chosen One by Valley of Wolves. // Rock that also gives a very subtle country-vibe to me, but I don’t listen to country and I have no idea what it sounds like so it might not :D I like their rhythm though! The song is positive but not too so. It’s basically all about how the me-person is the chosen one and how he’ll overcome any obstacle. 

(Also most other songs by Valley of Wolves. All I’ve heard have been about “I’m the best, I will beat you, I will win. Especially the songs Born Bold, Keep on keeping on, Ready for the Fire, Lions Inside, Out for Blood, and Now’s My Time. I don’t listen to them much anymore but they used to inspire me a lot so I’m throwing them out there.)

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The battle has been long and I don’t know if we can win anymore - but we need to keep trying

Aka the songs that are all about the desperate, hopeless fight no one thinks they can win anymore. These make me want to write a suicide mission, but not the explosive kind - more like the kind that starts with the characters crying and begging the suicide-person not to go, and ends with the survivors crying for the one who sacrificed themselves for the others.

Soldier by Tommee Profitt, ft Fleurie. // A slow cinematic song full of sadness that gradually builds up. Fleurie’s voice is amazing. The singer begs the Soldier to keep marching on through the dangers and hardships. One of my favorite go-to songs of all time when writing/planning this type of scene.

Heroes by Valley of Wolves. // Slower, emotional, lots of instruments which I love! Gets gradually stronger as well. There is a fight that seems hopeless, but they refuse to give in. But they also sing “Who will save us?” and “Sometimes you gotta let it go, leave it up to a hero.”

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I’m alone, and honestly, the world would be better off if I died (OR everything has gone to shit in general)

Aka the songs that are full of self-loathing. These are so useful for writing scenes where the character has lost everything. They’re at their lowest point and wonder if they even have a reason to keep fighting anymore - and they blame themselves for it. (OR the songs where things has gone to shit in general - the me-person may not blame themselves, but things are still very bad.)

Rock Bottom by grandson. // The non-self-loathing kind. Typical grandson sound, a mix of rap and rock and pop that sounds so damn good. “Tell me how did we get here? And where the fuck do we go now?” sums up the song - they’ve hit rock bottom and they don’t know how to get up anymore.

The Mystic by Adam Jensen. // Slower and angsty! A soft sound. Some type of rock. The me-person is a drug addict who’s hit their lowest point. He tries to stay clean, but his family has abandoned him, and he thinks no one is going to worry or even notice if he went missing - not until they found his body from the river.  

Losing Hold by Esterly, ft. Austin Jenckes. // Oh my GOD, this is The Angstiest song I’ve ever heard. The singer sings to a “you,” describing how you’re looking at your “last chance down below” and how you’re losing hold. This is the PERFECT song for writing/brainstorming scenes where a character is truly and utterly hopeless, broken, and alone. Everything about this song sounds what being hopeless feels like - the lyrics, the music, the singer’s voice... An amazing song. 10000/10.

Down So Low by Royal Deluxe. // Slow, a bit darker. Another song directed to a “you.” Basically, the whole song is the singer telling you how badly you fucked everything up and how it’s all your fault even though you keep blaming others. It also gets kinda hopeless. “How deep into the ground can one man dig a hole?” and “Leaving you crying out, ‘have mercy on my soul!’”

Despicable by grandson. // Slow, dark, self-loathing intensifies. “If I were you, I wouldn’t love me neither.” I don’t really listen to this song that much, but it’s great for brainstorming those kind of extremely hopeless scenes.

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Miscallenous 

Aka songs that inspire me in some other ways!

Solo by Prismo. // A nice mix between rock and, eh, electronic, I guess? This is a genre that I like a lot. Honestly, it’s probably called alternative rock. But anyway! This me-person is alone and he’s teaching himself to feel better. This inspires me with like, the positive change a character might go through. 

Sinners by Barns Courtney. // THE VOICE. Mmmm god his voice is the best voice I have ever heard. Basically, this is like softer rock. It has a really soft, pleasant, slower sound with lots of guitar. Nice. It’s about this me-person who’s low on luck, and he’s drinking with a bunch of “sinners.” He also sings “I must be good for something” which kinda inspires me to write a very specific character in a very specific scene. So it’s kinda, “I’ve been fucked over by lady luck but we can still drink tonight” mixed with some hope that maybe he isn’t a totally worthless good-for-nothing.

Pilgrims by New Dialogue. // Some sort of pop, alternative-ish, maybe? Super happy-sounding. They want to be pilgrims and settle somewhere better, somewhere safer. “Where we’re going, you could be anyone.” Honestly, this sounds like the ending soundtrack to a movie about a group of family who struggled to find a new, safe home in some foreign, scary land. It’s so... “yay!” :D sounds very happy. It inspires me in the “and they lived happily ever after” sort of way.

Who Will Save Your Soul by Esterly, ft. Young Youth. // Honestly, I have no idea what type of genre this is. It’s... a little cinematic, little rock-ish, little electronic, little pop-ish, little rap-ish. So :D yeah. But it is a good song! I mostly listen to it for the chorus that says “Who will save your soul, after the lies you told them, who will save your soul if you won’t save your own?” Idk. It’s a good song. Inspires me to create bad guys.

Listen Out Loud by DREAMERS. // A song I only discovered a few days ago. Pretty happy and pop-ish, the singer has a great voice. He sings about looking for answers in the world and finding them from all around himself when he listens out loud. It’s a message that inspires me to write a specific type of character - the type who’s curious and happy and seeks to understand the world.

We’re Tired by The Blancos ft Joyner Lucas. // Sounds so fucking good?? And honestly, this is an amazing song about the shittyness of selfishness, inequality, and oppression in general, which I love, but I also love this because it sounds so emotional and makes me want to write dystopian. 

[flower-of-the-desert]

Thoughts on My Engineer ep9

last time Bohn was getting the crap beat out of him, guess it’s time to find out if he’s dead already!

but seriously though, why the hell is Duen mad at him? He should be pissed at his dumbass friends who made Bohn go through all this trouble, not to mention tied Duen to a tree hello???

also someone explain to me how he got out of that?

OMG, these RamKing scenes are just *squeals*

how precious is it that King was so worried about Ram being mad at him that he went and got him the plant he liked and went through all the trouble of growing it and then how HAPPY he was that Ram talked to him more than ever before

and the way they are teasing each other ahhh, precious they are so damn precious

one day Ram IS going to say out loud I like King/King is cute and King is going to just die on the spot

Duen taking care of Bohn is cute though, I’m a sucker for scenes like that

oh god, they’re reading fanfic now and getting into the whole top/bottom Discourse(TM)

I know a lot of people have already talked about this much better than I could so I’m not gonna really comment on it beyond saying that I would have been hella more annoyed at this plot point if it werent for the Mek scene at the end where he blows all this nonsense out of the water which was just A fucking +++

and I hope this actually goes somewhere worthwhile next episode like Bohn and Duen having a conversation about their reservations about bottoming and why they’re both so desperate to be the top

it’s such a shame seeing Duen trying to change himself to fit into this idea of what a “husband” should be according to his... ahem, friends

hey, remember the days when I actually liked Duen’s friends? those were good times

ok, so again something that I mentioned in another post but this ep made me seriously considered whether Boss is actually as oblivious to Mek’s feelings as I thought up to this point

the entire plot point with him wanting to learn guitar and then the look he gave sleeping Mek and everything... something feels off? either Boss knows about Mek’s feelings but doesnt want to say anything in fear of losing what they have (in which case his continuous over-reliance on Mek and making demands of him like you would to your partner and constantly playing into the husband/wife joke takes on a rather... upsetting context?) or he has feelings for Mek himself but thinks it’s one-sided and doesnt want to say anything for the same reason Mek keeps quiet

in that case his constant need to find someone to date and desperation to get a girlfriend can be seen as him trying to direct his feelings onto someone else so he can get over Mek and move on

guess which option I want

come on guess? did you guess option 2? cause it’s option 2

you can see Mek’s soul leaving his body when Boss said he’s gonna live with him for a week, poor bastard

King has Ram-is-not-happy senses and when they tingle he magically appears wherever Ram happens to be

they’re really trying to kill me this episode with their cuteness

King making a new pencil for Ram and blessing it like his mom would just so Ram isnt upset anymore and then Ram choosing to use it even though he got his old pencil back is just peak boyfriend behaviour I dont make the rules

playing the guitar/teaching someone to play is gay culture at this point

poor Mek’s really going through it with Boss’s dumbassery

Boss’s I love you, you’re my best friend hits like Mil’s I like you as a brother

they’re just gonna do me like this twice in a row huh?

ok but Boss crying while listening to Mek sing to him??? I NEED SOME ANSWERS ASAP

again, I know a lot of other people have said this already but the red herring about Duen and Bohn having sex while Bohn was drunk and Duen basically taking adavantage of him is probably just that - a misdirection; I’m almost completely sure nothing happened so let’s see what they do next ep

[willow-bolton]

like a match in gasoline || a willow and riley mix (or how this was intended to be about their relationship and turned into a if they ever worked together they’d be hell to deal with mix- so basically badass bitches AU) (in no particular order, 21 tracks)

@rileymadden26​

01.  hell to pay- five finger death punch Feels like I'm running in place/A past I can't erase/I'm breaking, breaking apart/(I know they're after me)/It's like I'm fading each day/They took it all away/Left nothing, nothing but scars/(They make it hard to breathe)/Don't know where it went wrong/But my love for this is gone/I tried to numb the pain/But I can't get away/Hiding behind this disguise/The games I had to play/The hell I had to pay/Everything comes with a price

02. go to hell for heaven’s sake- bring me the horizon For the love of God, will you bite your tongue/Before we make you swallow it?/It's moments like this where silence is golden/And then you speak/No one wants to hear you/No one wants to see you/So desperate and pathetic, I'm begging you to spare me/The pleasure of your company/When did the diamonds leave your bones?/I'm burning down every bridge we made/I'll watch you choke on the hearts you break/I'm bleeding out every word you said/Go to hell, for heaven's sake/I'm burning down every bridge we made/I'll watch you choke on the hearts you break/I'm bleeding out every word you said/Go to hell, for heaven's sake

03. king of the world- porcelain & the tramps Keep your head down/Until I tell you to speak/And not giving me the run around/When you fall back into my coffin/No, you shouldn't stay in my way/Dare you test me/I'm the fucking king of the world/Get on your knees/I'm the fucking king of the world/Do as I please/So get up and get out and I'll show you/What it takes for me to control you/'Cause I'm the fucking king of the world

04. gasoline- porcelain & the tramps Don't get in my face/Don't invade my space/I'll put you in your place/I'll only tell you once/I'll never tell you twice/And this is me being nice/You cross me once and you'll see/It's like a match in gasoline/Gasoline'/Cause I'm highly flammable/A caged up animal/I will go off for you/You better take it back/I'm about to snap/I will go off for you, oh

05. love the way you hate me- like a storm I don't care if I'm not good enough for you/I don't care if I don't live the life you want me to/I don't care what you wanna think of me/'Cause all you are/Is everything/That I don't wanna be/You say/I'm a/Freak/I say/I am/Free/Come take a shot at me/I love the way you hate me/You say/I'm insane/I say/You're afraid/I get stronger from the pain/I love the way you hate me/Take another shot at me/I love the way you hate me

06. anti you- blue stahli Another command to succumb/To sucking you off with a smile/A vanity culture like a congregation/Identity dogmatism/The image is always in style/Stroking the ego with media masturbation/Conditioning to canonize/Gospel of this vox populi/Force feeding/Misleading/I'm burning the altar/And I'll pass right through/Erasing/Debasing/I want to be the anti you

07. fragile minds- silent theory Cut me open and you'll find/A brain, heart, liver, lungs/And a knife in the spine/It's chilling to know that the last place you go/Might be where the fat lady sings/Does it hurt? I don't know, and where do we go?/We don't tease fragile minds with such things/So sell me down the river/First help me sell my soul/It's something I know I can deliver/I think we've finally broke the mold

08. disarray- lifehouse I faced my demons/Wrestling these angels to the ground/And all that I could find Was a thin line between/All the saints and villains/It was crossed in my own mind/Someday I'm gonna find it/Wish I knew what I was looking for/Inside the disarray (inside the disarray)/I woke up this morning/Don't know where I'm going/But it's alright/I wouldn't have it any other way

09. the one who laughs last- downplay There's a war inside of me/And you watch it silently/Any idiot could see/That I killed all the hope that I had/There's a war inside of me/Burning red and honestly/And I wave it constantly/Like a flag, like a flag, like a flag/This knife that's in my back keeps twisting/Anxiety attacks/This is a battleground, I'm caught in the crossfire/My words are weaponry and I'm waiting patiently/You win the battle now but I will return the fire/'Cause I'd crawl on broken glass/To be the one who laughs last

10. i get wicked- thousand foot krutch I'm a beast came to rip this spot up/Stick to chords cause the devil wears prada/We want peace but we can make this rowdy, stop/We don't want to hurt nobody/You can't hate me cause my nature's nice/And my heart's for the people of the world tonight/If you got a problem with it take it up with life/Cause if you try to push me it ain't going to be nice/I get wicked, wicked/I get wicked/There's no escaping it/Wicked/You wanna kick it/Watch me get wicked/Step up and get it/'Cause I get wicked/I am not afraid of this mountain in my way/You can push me to my knees I believe/And I am now awake/Uncontrolled and not ashamed/When it washes over me I feel free

11. waste- seether Go unnoticed, let the freedom wash away./Losing focus, the pretense is second nature/It's a broken life that I cling too/Trying to make right/I feel dismayed, just like you do/I feel decayed../So find me a way, to leave this wasted life behind me. (this wasted life)/So find me a way, to leave this wasted life behind me after all/Yes, I see you surrounded by the hopeless/When they need you you're much to good and bloated/By the hopeless life that you cling too/Trying to make right.  

12. kill the lights- the birthday massacre This story's missing a wishing well/No mirror to show and tell/No kiss that can break the spell/I'm falling asleep/Every prince is a fantasy/The witch is inside of me/Her poison will wash away the memory/We kill the lights and put on a show/It's all a lie/But you'd never know/The star will shine/And then it will fall/And you will forget it all/And after midnight we're all the same/No glass shoe to bring us fame/Nobody to take the blame/We're falling apart

13. had enough- diamante I hate everyone that I meet/But I'm getting better/Think before I speak because I/I know I've got a temper/Think I've blown a fuse/There's blood on my knuckles/The smile on my face is fake/And the vein on my head suggests you get running/I've had enough, had enough/Had enough, had enough yeah/Cause I've had enough/I think I'm reaching the limit/You should keep your distance/Cause I've had enough/Take a deep breath and count to three/And then I'll be behavin'/I feel like people just don't get me/Maybe I'm crazy

14. paint it black- ciara I see a red door and I want it painted black/No colors anymore, I want them to turn black/I see the girls walk by, dressed in their summer clothes/I have to turn my head until my darkness goes/I see a line of cars and they're all painted black/With flowers and my love both never to come back/I see people turn their heads and quickly look away/Like a newborn baby, it just happens every day/I look inside myself and see my heart is black/I see my red door I must have it painted black/Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts/It's not easy facing up when your whole world is black/No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue/I could not foresee this thing happening to you/If I look hard enough into the setting sun/My love will laugh with me before the morning comes

15. curbstomp- meg myers I'm a sinner/I'm a liar/Want forgiveness/But I'm tired/I'm addicted to the fire/Let go, I'm ready for it/Let go, I'm ready/I'm a victim/I'm a coward/Try to wake up/Don't have the power/I'm a daughter in the choir/Let go, I'm ready for it/Let go, I'm ready

16. gasoline vs. savages- marina & halsey Is it running in our blood? Is it running in our veins?/Is it running in our genes? Is it in our DNA?/Humans aren't gonna behave as we think we always should/ Yeah, we can be bad as we can be good/Underneath it all we're just savages/Hidden behind shirts, ties and marriages/How could we expect anything at all?/We're just animals still learning how to crawl/We live, we die, we steal, we kill, we lie/Just like animals but with far less grace/We laugh, we cry like babies in the night/Forever running wild in the human race

17. moments- tove lo I, I'm not the prettiest you've ever seen/But I have my moments, I have my moments/Not the flawless one I've never been/But I have my moments, I have my moments/I can get a little drunk, I get into all the dont's/But on good days I am charming as fuck/I can get a little drunk, I get into all the dont's/But on good days I am charming as fuck

18. calm down- krewella Got all my keys don't you follow me, call on me/Ain't mood for no drama/Outta my face, didn't you read my policy/I do what I wanna/You ain't my therapist, ain't got the formula/So stay in your corner/Last thing I need is my head underwater/Didn't I warn' ya'/Wanna feel the good/Wanna feel the bad, feel it all/Got a human heart/I'ma let that fly and fall/When I feel insane/And I rap that pain/No doubt/I'ma spell it out/Don't tell me to calm down/I'm about to tear this fuckin' place down/Kinda like the way I let it go.../Don't tell me to calm down/I'm about to tear this fuckin' place down/No, I ain't afraid to let it go.../Don-don't tell me to calm down/Don't tell me to calm down

19. middle finger- bohnes You show me love then spit in my face/Making your money off all of my pain/You put an eagle inside of a cage/And you think I'm not strong enough to escape/But I refuse to let you make me feel like I can't fly/Not only will I soar again, I'll own the fucking sky, yeah/So I put my middle finger up/I'm done being your slave/My generation's had enough/And you should be afraid/Oh-whoa, oh, not your prisoner/Oh-whoa, oh, better listen when I say/I put my middle finger up/I'm done being your slave/You couldn't even look me in the eye/When you let me go and then left me to die/There was no question that I would survive/An artist on fire is one that's alive

20. dead af- krewella Throwing pretty pennies/Down a wishing well/We ain't fucking with you/But we wish you well/Wonder where your friends is/Are they heads or tails?/We ain't fucking with you/'Cause we see you/At the bottom of the party/With the silver spoon under your tongue (under your tongue)/You're all about the money/But your bullshit doesn't add up (doesn't add up)/Dancing with the skeletons out of all the graves you dug (graves you dug)/All your friends are Benjamins call 'em but they won't show up/'Cause everybody dead as fuck.../'Cause everybody dead as fuck.../'Cause everybody dead as (Brah! Brah!)/Dead as fuck

21. bones- ms mr Dig up her bones but leave the soul alone/Boy with a broken soul/Heart with a gaping hole/Dark twisted fantasy turned to reality/Kissing death and losing my breath/Midnight hours, cobble street passages/Forgotten savages, forgotten savages/Dig up her bones but leave the soul alone/Let her find a way to a better place/Broken dreams and silent screams/Empty churches with soulless curses

[theconservativebrief]

This fall — better known as “this holiday shopping season” — there are as many things to buy as ever, but newly, there are plenty of things to buy that have the express purpose of preventing you from looking at a screen.

If you’re worried about the current arrangement in which you’re addicted to your phone and paying for all of your services with attention instead of money (well, in addition to money), further entwining yourself and your phone, barely able to decipher where you end and your phone begins, they promise a solve.

Last week, there were the click-bait “IRL Glasses,” which raised $112,000 against a $25,000 goal on Kickstarter and are set to eventually retail for $79 a pop. Just a novelty, or “concept piece,” even in the words of their creator, the glasses can block the light coming from LED and LCD screens and therefore put the wearer in a world free of (digital) billboards and (some) TVs.

Phones and computers and TVs with OLED displays (which are still a little high-end, but increasingly popular) will still get through, but the idea is mostly just to call attention to the way Silicon Valley has taken over our lives.

Designer Ivan Cash told Wired that IRL Glasses are an idea borrowed from John Carpenter’s 1988 sci-fi cult classic They Live, which is centered around a pair of sunglasses that reveals secret messages from aliens who order humans to “obey,” “consume,” and “conform.” Get it? Just swap a space creature for an Instagram influencer, an overlord for Mark Zuckerberg.

An IRL Glasses model who is at peace, because she can’t see LED or LCD screens. IRL Glasses

And on Monday, two more attention-repurposing gadgets were trending: the Panasonic Wear Space “concentration device” and the Steph Curry-endorsed tiny Palm phone.

The former was shown at Panasonic’s Future Life Factory booth at the Consumer Electronics Showcase in Las Vegas this January — billed as a solution for open coworking spaces where stimuli are seen as an anti-productivity disease — and is essentially a flexible pair of blinders with noise-cancelling headphones inside. Before you ask: This device absolutely does makes the wearer look like a horse, despite the fact that they were made with the help of Japanese high fashion designer Kunihiko Morinaga.

The idea is that by physically forcing yourself to look straight ahead and listen to nothing, you’ll focus on whatever’s in front of you. The idea is also to sell the blinders for 35,000 yen (about $313), though the crowdfunding campaign is only about 52 percent to its goal. (It’s buzzing on social media right now because it was picked up as a “news” item by the streetwear and general consumption enthusiasm blog Hypebeast.)

But more interesting is the Palm: a tiny, limited-use phone, available next month for $349.99 exclusively through Verizon, and exclusively as a companion phone to a larger, more advanced phone. (You have to hook it up to a phone number that’s already in use.)

The Verge’s Dieter Bohn describes it as “a sidecar for your phone,” “designed for you to use on the weekends, when you’re going out for the evening, or just generally when you want to be a little less distracted by your big phone with all its apps.” Bohn also points out that the tiny Palm is technically capable of running any app from the Google Play Store. Presumably the backstop is that you’d just feel gross if you caught yourself trying too hard to spend oodles of time in Instagram on a rinky-dink device like this. (I mean, you can wear it on a necklace!)

The hot new trend is physically forcing yourself to look straight ahead and listen to nothing

In other words, our brains are pretty simple: the smaller screen means the colorful apps and notifications so carefully designed to hog your eyeball all day and night are not as fun to look at. With the new Palm, you’re forcing yourself to use something tiny, which is harder — struggling to look at them is supposed to remind you of what you are doing. You’re basically treating yourself like a child, enforcing limitations that will hopefully make you surrender to your own imagination and entertain yourself with human voices and interesting landscapes, or your muscles, or a book, or a sandwich, or whatever.

NBA star Steph Curry is involved in that he invested, and in that he designed some cases that let you affix the tiny phone to your forearm while you exercise. I am involved in that the idea of a phone “not much bigger than a credit card” is very appealing to me. However, as I mentioned — you can’t use this phone unless you have another, bigger phone.

The baby phone’s main attributes are that it is wee and precious, and that its battery will last for a very long time if you put it on “Life Mode,” which is a wellness-oriented cocktail of do-not-disturb, low battery, and airplane mode settings. The screen will stay dark; cellular data and Wi-Fi will stay off unless you actively engage with a phone that isn’t actively engaging you.

It’s expensive and you probably don’t need it. I’m just bringing it up because it’s a flashy answer to that common question: Are you addicted to your phone?

Apart from being common, this is also probably the most boring question I can fathom asking. It hints both at inter-generational hand-wringing and at complete uselessness, having honestly only one answer: Yes, of course, you are addicted to your phone. You are, I am, we all are, and not because we’re narcissists or idiots, but because everything on our phones was designed with that exact goal in mind.

Earlier this year, thinking about the proliferation of the little red notification badge in the corner of most of the apps you use every day, The New York Times’s John Herrman wrote, “The dot is where ill-gotten attention is laundered into legitimate-seeming engagement.”

The last year has been marked by panic about this fact: from giant tech companies faced with almost surreally huge PR problems, from journalists who do things like start a Google Pixel 3 review with “We are captives to our phones, they are having a deleterious effect on society, and no one is coming to help us,” and from individual gadget creators and platform designers, who have suddenly felt compelled to step forward and publicly apologize for doing all this to us (some sincerely and some probably because of book deals).

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Apple introduced Screen Time with iOS 12 in September, a feature that provides you with detailed information about how much time you are spending in various apps, meant to be used in conjunction with App Limits and Downtime — new settings that let you set hard caps and restrictions for yourself. Boot yourself out of Snapchat after an hour, don’t let any Twitter notifications in after 10 PM, etc. Google has been testing a similar feature called Digital Wellbeing in public beta for the last six months, and Facebook and Instagram introduced their own time-spent dashboards in August.

Some individuals have tried more radical solutions: sabotaging their devices’ attention-grabbing tricks by only using them in grayscale, or paying $100 a day to hang out in the woods in Sweden, giving up technology completely, in favor of attempting to answer the question, “What if the culture you grew up in was broken in ways that you didn’t even have words for?” And the hunt for a good minimalist phone is perpetually on.

“Is it possible to reform profit-driven systems that turn attention into money?” Herrman asked in February. “In such a business, can you even separate addiction from success?”

This batch of new gadgets, laughable as they are and unscalable as they may seem, certainly represent one attempt at doing just that. If I were to mount a defense of a new consumer good — and it’s not often that I feel obliged to do so — I’d say they’re ham-fisted and obnoxious, but at least what you’re paying for them with is written right there on the box.

Original Source -> The only thing that can protect you from your gadgets is more gadgets

via The Conservative Brief

[kriterium3-blog]

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Before that, there was Motorola. Its Atrix phone worked the same way, but its laptop dock cost $500, the software you used with it was half-baked, and the phone was only “strong” by 2011’s standards. Again, few people cared.Still, the dream hasn’t died. The latest group to give it a try is Andromium, a startup headed by alumni of Google and Y Combinator. Its new Kickstarter project, the Superbook, essentially flips the Atrix concept, and applies it to various Android phones. At its core, the Superbook is just a laptop shell. It’s got an 11.6-inch display with a 1366x768 resolution, a QWERTY keyboard with Android-specific keys, a multi-touch trackpad, and a battery that Andromium rates at eight or so hours of use. (Though that’ll move closer to 10 hours if Andromium reaches $500,000 in funding, which currently looks likely.) In a recent Reddit AMA, the company said the device is composed of soft plastic.In other words, it’s small and basic. It makes up for that by being cheap — it starts at $99 through Kickstarter, and the company expects it to start in the $129 range if and when it hits retailers. (If the campaign hits $1 million, the company plans to offer a slightly more expensive 1080p display option as well.)

To power it, you activate the Andromium OS app — which is available in beta form in the Google Play Store — on your phone, then plug it into the shell over microUSB or USB-C. You’re not limited to any particular model, but the company says the phone should have at least 1.5GB of RAM, a dual-core chip, and Android 5.0 or higher. (It also has to support the USB-OTG standard, but that shouldn't be an issue for the vast majority of devices.)The idea, as it’s always been, is to leverage your phone’s power with a laptop’s form factor. In Andromium’s eyes, buying a new phone then becomes akin to buying a new laptop. Now, that probably won't hold true for everyone. A cheaper phone won’t be as smooth as a pricier one. Plenty of Chromebooks are affordable and perfectly capable. And while your phone is a tiny computer, it’s not a tiny laptop — much of the Superbook’s success will come down to how well Andromium OS turns Android into competent desktop software.

That said, it does seem to have the basics down — a browser, a file manager, a taskbar, a launcher, some level of multitasking, etc. — and as we’ve seen on Chrome OS, Android itself has plenty of apps that translate well enough to desktops. You can watch videos on YouTube, write documents with Microsoft Word, and play a bunch of games. The Superbook's display isn't a touchscreen, though, which could make using those a little less natural.Andromium says it’ll open its SDK so developers can tailor their apps for Andromium, too, though how much support that gets remains to be seen.In any case, the campaign has raised more than $400,000 in a couple days of funding, way past its initial target. While the usual risk with crowdfunding projects remain, Andromium says its prototypes are finished, and that it hopes to ship the Superbook to backers by February 2017.Either way, given how strong today’s smartphones have become, the time might finally be right to make this nerd fantasy a reality. Again.

A Thursday report from The Verge points toward a major potential problem with USB-C, the new cable standard that powers an ever-expanding group of devices.The power stream through USB-C cables is reversible, meaning a laptop can power a smaller device through the same port it uses to charge. When Verge writer Dieter Bohn plugged his phone into his laptop, it drank too greedily from the computer's battery:I used a cheap cable I found on Amazon to charge my Nexus 6P and it drew too much power from my MacBook Air’s USB ports. Apple did a remarkable job engineering the MacBook’s ports — they shut down temporarily to protect themselves — but when they came back online, they only worked intermittently.I've experienced firsthand the pain of a faulty charge bricking a device, so this story resonates.Gadgets are built to pull as much juice as they can handle from power sources, and generally those sources aren't build to cap the flow through their ports. A cable's job is to let a gadget sip as hard as it can without overtaxing the source.

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Bohn found a Google engineer, Benson Leung, who destroyed his Chromebook Pixel with another faulty cord. Leung's made a small reputation for himself online as the sole qualified person reviewing USB-C cords for safety online. He posts those reviews on Amazon. Here's his review of the cord that destroyed his laptop. But those reviews are hard to find — though an enterprising group of internetters have aggregated them online here.The problem here, which Bohn identifies, is that it's too easy to buy a USB-C cable that can fry your computer, and it's not enough to simply trust a few reviews. If USB-C is to succeed at becoming the universal data/power cord for gadgets, there needs to be a simple, quick method for anyone to determine if a cable is safe or not. And Amazon has to stop selling faulty ones online.Today, Lenovo took the wraps off the Yoga Book: A new tablet/laptop hybrid, offered in both Android and Windows 10 flavors, focused squarely on helping users be productive.

Like most tablets made in the last two years or so, the Yoga Book is taking its cues from Microsoft.Unlike most of those tablets, the Yoga Book seems to be inspired not by the Microsoft Surface, which even Apple has imitated with its iPad Pro— but rather the Microsoft Courier, a hotly-anticipated tablet that was first leaked to the press in 2008, and then killed on Bill Gates' orders in 2010, before it was even officially announced.The Courier would have been a dual-screen "booklet" PC. Rather than a keyboard, it sported two 7-inch touchscreens, connected by a hinge. With those two screens, you could use it as kind of a so-called "infinite journal," sketching or taking notes with a stylus on one side while reading the news or making appointments on the other.It's billed by Lenovo as a super-thin, super-light tablet. You may have noticed already that it doesn't have a keyboard, in the traditional sense. Instead, it's a funky kind of touchscreen, called the "Halo keyboard" by Lenovo, that basically tries to recreate the feeling of typing with a regular laptop keyboard without actually being one.

The Halo keyboard also gives the Yoga Book its best, and most Courier-esque feature:The Halo keyboard pulls double duty as a sketchpad, thanks to its neat wide-open hinge. If you lay down a piece of paper on top of the keyboard, and use the stylus that comes with the Yoga Book in its ballpoint pen mode (seriously, it switches), any notes you take will instantly be digitized and put on the main screen. It does the same thing without paper and with the stylus in its normal mode, but, well, that's less fun.Either way, as you can see, the spirit of the Microsoft Courier lives on in the Yoga Book. The second screen isn't quite the full-on touchscreen promised by the Courier (the Verge reports that Lenovo tried, but the second screen degraded battery life too much), but the core concept of a dedicated sketchpad has clearly endured. There's a case to be made that despite the hype, the Courier was little more than a science project that deserved to be killed. But times have changed since 2010, and maybe the moment is right for a stylus-driven tablet after all these years.

The Yoga Book will be available by the end of October, starting at $499 for the Android version and $550 for the Windows 10 model. And while it remains to be seen if Lenovo's gamble on a more offbeat kind of tablet will pay off, it's very nice to see a company finally think a little different.The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships so we may get a share of the revenue from your purchase.Since you don't have all day to scour the web for noteworthy sales and discounts, we rounded up the best bargains for you to shop in one convenient place.Bluetooth speakers are a great way to take your music with you wherever you go. Capable of 15 hours of continuous play on a single charge, this speaker by Jawbone is a great asset for tailgates, camping trips, and when summer comes back around, days at the beach. It also has an internal microphone so you can take calls hands-free when your phone starts ringing.

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If you’re looking for a good value on a laptop, the Dell Inspiron is a solid deal today. It’s thin and light, with all of the specs you want out of a computer at this price point: a 6th generation Intel core processor, a 256GB solid state hard drive, 8GB RAM, and a 1080p display. It also features a touchscreen, which can make toggling through numerous tags a bit more convenient if you prefer the feel of a tablet. Also, for those specifically in the market for a touchscreen computer, the Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga is available at a discount at Best Buy today as well, so compare the two before you buy to make sure you find which is right for you.We are big supporters of portable chargers here at Insider Picks. They are great investments in that they will save you a lot of stress over time. Just pop one in your glove box, bag, or pants pocket and avoid the panic that can be induced when your phone dies at an inopportune time. This lipstick-tube-sized model is a great value for how much juice it holds.Everyone could use a solid backpack to travel with, whether on your daily commute to work or to fit into the overhead bin while vacationing. And of anything you might pack in your bag, it is likely that none of your worldly possessions are of higher personal value to you than your laptop. For this reason, NIID created a backpack with your computer in mind. It’s waterproof, and has a cushioned compartment for your precious tech.

The NomadPlus is perfect for those who are concerned they’ll forget to charge their charger (if there’s anything more frustrating that being stuck with a dead phone, it’s plugging in your portable charger only to discover it’s dead as well). With the NomadPlus, you can simultaneously refuel both your phone and charger through a wall outlet. When your phone is fully juiced, you can unplug the unit with the comfort that your backup charge is ready to go as well.Disclosure: This post is brought to you by Business Insider's Insider Picks team. We aim to highlight products and services you might find interesting, and if you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners, including Amazon. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback.

[lyricallymnded]

yo what are some of your favorite covers?

big question, surprisingly so it’ll be under a read more

i’m gonna preface this with just linking you to alex goot’s youtube channel here. me and nikki have both edited some of his solo stuff, but we’re huge fans of his covers as well. we’d recommend, above anything, all his covers with against the current (which he’s put into a nice little playlist here) and his cover of lorde’s green light with sainte here!

now, uh… this is gonna get long. we’re kind of real soft for good covers.

walk the moon’s cover of all these things that i’ve done, originally by the killers (i was actually listening to this when it came in so it was v amusing to me okay, good timing)

paramore’s cover of passionfruit, originally by drake

childish gambino’s cover of so into you, originally by tamia

glass animals’ cover of love lockdown, originally by kanye west

arctic monkeys’ cover of hold on we’re going home, originally by drake (also every cover arctic monkeys has done ever, i’m so Weak for alex turner)

the neighbourhood did a cool mashup cover of say my name by destiny’s child and cry me a river by justin timberlake that i’m a Big fan of

verite’s cover of somebody else, originally by the 1975 (everyone and their mother has covered this song but LISTEN IT’S HOW I FOUND VERITE OKAY)

imagine dragons’ cover of blank space, originally by taylor swift

bastille’s cover of we can’t stop, originally by miley cyrus

birdy’s cover of let her go, originally by passenger

also birdy’s cover of skinny love, originally by bon iver

ALSO birdy’s cover of shelter, originally by the xx

lindsey sterling and pentatonix’s cover of radioactive by imagine dragons goes fucking hard (i’m just weak for lindsey tbh but still)

twenty one pilots’ cover of can’t help falling for you, originally by elvis presley

i started this with a walk the moon cover so let’s end it with one, their cover of talking heads’ burning down the house is fucking fantastic, by far one of my favorite covers Ever

~tahlia

going to be honest, i’m actually pretty picky with covers and while they’re fun live i can actually only stand listening to studio versions of them on a regular basis and am not generally a fan of acoustics and if i see the words live lounge in front of anything it’s usually a sign i’ll click out half way through.  that being said, let’s get to ones i actually like

against the current’s cover of i wanna get better featuring the ready set, originally by the bleachers, this is my favorite cover period

american avenue’s cover of gasoline, originally by halsey, though i do recommend you check out their covers in general because they’re all very good

andy black & juliet simms’ cover of when we were young, originally by adelle

bohnes’ cover of witchcraft, originally by frank sinatra

bastille’s cover of no scrubs (renamed no angels), originally by tlc, i’m pretty sure this is my exception to the only studio versions thing

my chemical romance’s cover of desolation row, originally by bob dylan, my dad actually got me into this cover and when talking about why he loved it so much he got me into covers in general

new.wav (cameron hurley of watic/sainte)’s cover of girls, originally by the 1975, the 1975 redone in the style of blink-182 sign me up

new.wav’s cover of centuries, originally by fall out boy

patty walters (of as it is)’s cover of she looks so perfect, originally by 5 seconds of summer, i was actually really disappointed when the original version of this song came out and this is exactly how i think the song should sound

patty walters’s cover of dammnit, originally by blink-182, one of the two exceptions to my not being big on acoustic covers

patty walters’ cover of story of my life, originally by one direction, basically just check out patty’s youtube channel, he’s who got me into youtube covers

phoebe ryan’s mashup of ignition, originally by r. kelly, and do you like drugs, originally by miguel

pierce the veil’s cover of just the way you are, originally by bruno mars

sleeping with sirens’ cover of iris, originally by goo goo dolls, there are no songs i don’t think can be improved by kellin quinn’s voice

sleeping with sirens’ cover of fuck you, originally by cee-lo

tonight alive’s cover of little lion man, originally by mumford and sons

we are the in crowd’s cover of sic city transit gloria...glory fades, originally by brand new

we are the in crowd’s cover of grenade, originally by bruno mars

5 seconds of summer’s cover of i miss you, originally by blink-182, the other exception to my acoustic cover thing, and again blink-182 weirdly

~nikki