#these photos really are this dark in the magazine btw

[perfunctory-idols]

Beck in Paris, France, 2006

Scanned from Paste Magazine November 2006

Photos by Autumn de Wilde

[kiriekonamistan]

I have been given too much freedom

It's time for Cursed Thoughts With Kirie!

I'm gonna be thinking about this until the day I die btw. I just love Fairy Tail too much not to post a bit of random stuff I thought of.

This is mostly a headcanon and partially a story idea; So we all know that Cana Albarona is a flirt, ms bi/pan queen over here, right? I had a really funny idea for something that could happen after the Alvarez War but either at the same time as 100yrs Quest, just before 100yrs Quest, or some time after it ends.

•Cana is the member of Fairy Tail who has the most notable track record for bad dates, bad picks for a partner, and the longest list of dark mages (some of which she knew were dark mages prior to trying to date them) dated by a legal/light guild mage. There's a column in Sorcerer Weekly magazine dedicated to the dating habits of big-time-guild mages.

Cana's interests are notoriously very hard to get a read on because one week she'll be with a perfectly average gal with a job at a local cafe, next month she's spotted at a seedy tavern making out with freakin' Bora the Prominence (after getting kicked from Titan's Nose but before the scheme in Hargeon Port)!

This goes on and on for years, she's seen sharing a drink with some shady character who is later revealed to be a grunt for a dark guild (she claims innocence every time one of her exes gets arrested for something like this, the Magic Council is livid every single time), then she's with some nerdy nobody from a village near Magnolia. At some point after the war with Alvarez she's even listed as dating Brandish Mu of the Twelve Shields for a while (Spriggan Twelve).

-All this to say Cana is unashamed of who she is interested in dating. She only keeps a low enough profile to not get herself or her dates arrested and so that she doesn't attract any bad attention to the guild.

But one day Sorcerer Weekly holds a viewers poll for the top hundred most attractive wizards in Fiore. Not just guild wizards either, any mage who a subscriber of Sorcerer Weekly finds appealing can be submitted but there needs to be a minimum of two photographs mailed in along with the viewer's entry ticket. (or something like that, I'm making this up, I don't know how magazine contests work)

The recommendations are mailed in, the issue is published, and mages across Fiore and beyond are shocked (many are appalled) to see the Black Wizard Zeref's photos printed just below Jellal Fernandez. The Fairy Tail guild is in chaos; Natsu looks like he's suffering from his motion sickness despite being seated firmly on a picnic bench, Gray did a spit take when someone shoved a copy of the magazine past him to show Mira, Master Makarov is as pale as a sheet, Lucy is stunned, and Cana-...

Cana is the only one completely unaffected. Smiling and chugging her booze like any other day in this crazy guild. It takes about three days for her to fess up that she submitted it half as a joke and half seriously (Natsu has not come out to the guild as Zeref's younger brother yet, only the founding members of Team Natsu and Porlyusica know about that). She winds up saying something along the lines of, "What's so wrong with putting him on the list? It's not like he's here to complain about it- 'sides" her mouth curves into a smug grin, "for over four hundred he's totally a dilf."

The entire guild throws things at her for that comment. She cackles uncaringly.

@spot-of-tea @pencilofawesomeness

Woe, cursed thoughts be upon the both of ye!

[gnrbitch]

Does she have alcohol? pt2

warnings: None!

(Contraband is the name of Y/ns band btw!)

a/n: Album name (choose whichever album you want!)

——

Los Angeles, California

Y/n and her band mates never kept the promise of hanging out with Slash, being too busy doing shows around the US and promoting their record.

Contrabands album, a/n had exploded in the months after its release. So that means Slash was seeing Y/ns face everywhere he went, making quite difficult for the guitarist to shake her off his mind.

And Slash was annoyed, not at the fact that Y/ns band got famous, he frankly didn’t care. He was annoyed at the fact that everyone else was able to come across her, except for him.

I mean how was that even possible? He thought to himself as he looked at a magazine with a photo of Lars and Y/n. Had she forgotten about him? Or did she just think he was weird? Slash thought. Maybe he just wasn’t as lucky, or maybe, he should’ve just asked Lenny for her phone number when they were at the studio.

~

The club was dark, Slash didn’t even know why he was here to be honest. Well he did, Duff had offered to pay for his drinks if he went out with them. So there they were Slash, Duff, Matt and Gilby sitting in a booth drinking. Obviously the other boys had some girl under their arms, but not Slash, he had just broken up with Renee in hopes that he would come across Y/n and finally be able to take her out. And he really didn’t have any interest in another girl if it wasn’t Y/n.

“Look who it is!” A male voice called out. Slash looked up from his drink to see James standing there along with all the other guys from Metallica… and the guys from Contraband. “Hey man!” Duff said “…Hey aren’t you the guys from Contraband?” he continued drunkly pointing at Sydney, Sammi, Benny and Mikey. “Yea man, we are” Sammi said, also pretty drunk. “Well shit! I love the record guys” He laughed.

“Sit down man” Slash spoke to the guys, now internally panicking at the fact Y/n might be here. Do I smell bad? Do I look good? Is my hair greasy? When was the last time I showered?

“Yea man let me just- hold on” “Y/N OVER HERE!” Sammi yelled to the bar. Slash had never turned his head so fast in his life.

And there she was, drink in her hand, flared leather pants, and a muscle shirt on. And the closer she got to them, he noticed she didn’t have a bra on. And he felt hot.

“Hey guys, i’m Y/n” she said, giving that pretty smile that had been in Slash’s head. She walked over to Slash’s side of the booth and sat next to him.

“Hey Slash” she said, putting the same emphasis on his name like she did the last time. “How have you been?” She said, leaning over so he can hear over the music. Slash smiled, letting his eyes roam her face before answering. “I’ve been good”, his eyes landing on Y/ns lips. “Even better since i’ve been seeing your face everywhere”

This made Y/n smile, which made Slash smile, cause god he loved to see her smile. “So seeing me on a magazine is better than the real thing? i’ve got to say im offended Slash.” Y/n said, giving him an overly exaggerated offended look on her face, obviously trying to hide her smile. Slash licked his lips before responding “See i didn’t say all that, maybe if I knew where to find you I could’ve seen ‘the real thing’.”

“um… do you guys know each other?” Gilby asked suspiciously looking at the pair, this was the preppiest he’s seen Slash in months.

“Oh yea we go wayyyyyy back” Y/n said with a teasing smile, looking over at Slash. “No way! how come i’ve never heard of this lady then man?” Duff said with a drunkly look on his face.

“She’s just fucking with you Duff” Slash responded, “We met when I went to New York to work with Lenny.” Duff and Gilby gave them a little “ohh” , and Slash’s attention was right back on Y/n.

“Where to find me? I’m every where baby” Y/n purred, answering his response from before. “Comon Y/nn, don’t make this hard on me” Slash said giving her a pleading look. Y/n smiled “Fine. Just for you though”. She took out a lip liner from her bag and grabbed a napkin, writing her number on it.

“Call me tomorrow morning” she said handing Slash the paper. “Why tomorrow morning?” He asked, finding it weird that she wants him to call her at such a specific time.

Y/n smiled, “Cause I wanna talk to you, obviously”

Slash looked over her face again, happy with her response.

——

Here’s part 2!!! hope you guys liked it 💟

[notebookmusical]

Omg I've had photos of your bracelets bookmarked as inspiration! I totally forgot those were yours. They're so beautiful!! I think FOB will be a lot of fun even if you don't know their music - one of my best friends is a huge fan and says they're amazing live. I've been debating grabbing tickets to see them too but I have 6 concerts lined up next year and two more I think I'm going to get tickets for haha so we'll see. But I'm also making bracelets for holly, olivia, and eras next year!

Ohhh is notion the digital bujo thing or am I thinking of something else? RWRB is so cute and anastasia and waitress are beautiful. It's cool to connect your bujo art to your current interests and then be able to go back through and remember all the media you enjoyed at different points. I would definitely love to see any bujo art you want to share! And wow, self-taught embroidery - that's awesome!!

Sorry to hear about the awful work environment - I hope you've moved on to something better and have recovered well from grad school! 💜 Your description of everything sounds very similar to the path I've been on. It's encouraging hearing about all the art you've worked on though - I feel really motivated to start pushing through this slump and make some fun things!! I want to do some themed art similar to your bujo theming. I just thrifted a little decorative box with small blank cards in them so I might try to do some mini collages on those maybe with music lyrics.

I hope you feel better soon and can go do some ceramic painting! I'm super lucky with knitting / crafting. My mom knit when she was younger so she taught me and let me have her old needles and yarn. And in general, she's very crafty and taught me a lot of different craft things growing up. I think the collaging was a combination of enjoying crafting as a kid and liking to collect things (in this case, scraps of paper and magazine clippings).

Btw how do you like the new Holly / MUNA collab?

oh my gosh that is so nice of you to say!!! i'm hoping to make more bracelets this week + next so i can send them out with presents, but we'll see if that ends up happening or not! if i do make more i'll post some photos on here for you 🤍

what concerts are you seeing next year? a lot of artists/bands that i like toured this year so aside from olivia + holly + taylor, i don't really think anyone i particularly care about will be touring :( i did really want to see noah kahan and also bleachers, but i don't particularly want to travel travel (especially since bleachers isn't coming to the west coast at all).

notion is the digital bujo thing! i really liked it, and like it for some things, but got caught up in making everything super pretty over actually being functional :( i keep forgetting it gets dark dark here in seattle at like 3pm now, but tomorrow for sure i will take some better photos of my bujo 🤍

i hope you're able to fall back into crafty things soon! grad school really is just ... soul sucking/all consuming. i'd love to see some of your crafts too, if you'd like to share!! 🤍 i'm starting to feel a little bit better — still don't reallllly have a voice (it keeps coming in & out), but i'm feeling a lot better overall! and that's so cool that you got to learn from your mom! my mom isn't crafty at all (she loves to bake though!) and i have no idea who i picked up my love for crafts from!

i really like the new holly/muna collab! i love muna — i'd love to see them live someday, and i think into your room was such a good song for them to be on! what about you? 🤍 if you could have holly collab with anyone, who would you want and why? personally, i'd love her to work with benjamin francis leftwich again — i think about this video often, and i'd love to see her collab with the 1975/matty healy since i really love what they did on sleep tight + please don't leave just yet.

[jinxytheshippr]

A Gallo x Reader Oneshot that Perfectly Sums up me and my taste :)

"I don't know, it just --- didn't feel right, you know?" Blake wondered aloud, running a hand through his hair. "Did I do the right thing? Did I mercilessly slash her heart open on a faint remnant of a feeling?" He ran the same hand through his hair, in the same spot. He kept saying the same three questions for a few more seconds before you grabbed his hand and pinned it to the table, giving him a passive-agressive "shut up" look.

"Listen to your heart, think about these feelings a little more --- preferably without words --- and make up your mind. Jessica's nice, right? She will probably give you a second chance. You can't have hurt her that bad?" You said, letting go of his hand to take a sip of your latte.

"Maybe, but I can't shake this feeling, I've told you about it as long as I've known you! You know that none of these girls have been any different," he defended, agitated.

"Maybe take a step away from girls. It worked for me, plus, I heard Darren's looking for a new guy," you joked with a smile, setting your latte back on its coaster.

"What?" He looked befuddled. "I don't think so. But should I? Would that work?"

A nervous Gallo was a talkative Gallo, you had (sadly) learned that very quickly. The funniest thing was, he only blabbered on when something was really bothering him, in his mind.

"I was joking," you contradicted, grabbing his hand again. "You just haven't found the right girl, or bothered to set up a Tinder profile. Give it a sec, you'll find someone."

He pulled his hand away, grabbing a biscotti from the cute painted plate between you, and looked towards the wall of windows to his right, which caused that chemical reaction your body started doing from the moment you met him; taking a mental photo of anything that made Blake look like he should be on the cover of a magazine. (Which was nearly every stupid pose possible, btw)

You sat there, latte in hand, marvelling as the early morning light shone across his dark hair and cheeks, his eyes sparkling as they looked out at the passing taxis and cabs. You grabbed your latte again and focused on that instead, remembering how crazy in love you were with Blake. That was why you used sarcasm instead of actual relationship advice for him, because part of you wanted to love him and him love you back, but the other part was too scared that you would get in trouble for in-house dating or losing a friend.

"The coffee's cute," he said, drawing you back to reality. You stared down at your latte, only then realising the barista had made a little cat on top of it. Unfortunately, your cat looked like the undead from one too many drinks.

"Yeah," you moved your cup in a circle over the coaster, swishing the liquid inside.

"Thanks for taking me here, I really needed it. I think this is my new favorite corner in Chicago."

"Of course," you smiled flirtatiously, but knew Gallo would catch it as a friendly, goofy smile instead. "I work here over the summer, Kathy over there's the one to thank for the cats in the coffee," you motioned for the counter, where Kathy was rearranging the gift cards. Again.

"Cool," he said, turning around to look at her. (for a little longer than you were comfortable with) "Is she single?"

"Yeah, but only for girls with hair as bright as hers," I motioned for another worker with bright pink locks trailing down her shoulders; Becca, the co-owner of the shop and also Kathy's longest lasting crush.

You picked up your cup again and started taking another drink.

"Really?" Blake frowned, then turned back to his latte. "I think I should start a Tinder. Unless you would like to date me, by chance?"

You nearly spat all over the table, but kept it to a weak cough. "Sorry, what?"

"Nothing, just trying sarcasm, I guess," he looked at the wall of windows again, and your mind took another mental photo.

Was that my chance? Did I just mess it up? Your thoughts wandered again as you cleared your throat.

"Crap," Blake said, moving his head to look over his shoulders. "Red alert, that's Jessica."

You turned to look at the girl. You could tell by her general vibe that she was not one for second chances; the claw nails as long as her fingers themselves, the Gucci purse, and the foot-tall heels said that pretty clearly. What had Gallo gotten himself into this time?

"What do we do?" Blake panicked, looking over the other shoulder.

A single movie quote popped into your head, from the movie you watched last night. It was dumb, and could cost a friendship, but it might work.

"Showing affection in public makes people uncomfortable," you start, already feeling your cheeks turn red.

"How do we do that? We gotta act fast, she's getting closer!" He reached out and grabbed your hand. "Will this work?"

Your brain lagged like a Minecraft game at one frame per second, stumbling forward every heartbeat.

"What if we try this?" He requests, still peeking over his shoulder. He turned to face you, his hand letting go of yours and moving to your chin, sending goosebumps up and down everywhere.

"I hope our brains are in the same page," you managed, although already reaching for him.

Then it happened. You kissed, to save Gallo from some encounter with an ex. The context was kinda (super) dumb, but you kissed, and loved it. Heat spread from your head around all parts of your body, and, by the time you broke apart, you knew there was no chance you were waiting any longer to tell him.

"What a rush," he said, still within half a foot of your face. "I think she's gone."

"Mhm," was all you could say, focusing on how to word this right.

"You know, that felt pretty good, maybe we should try dating," he leaned back in his seat, draping one arm over the corner of the back.

"Nice one," you said instinctively, but immediately wanted to take it back.

"No sarcasm this time," he smiled, but you could see a sheen of nervousness hidden beneath his confidence.

You blinked. "Sure," you matched his tone. "Netflix n' chill after next shift?"

[prettyoddfever]

the makeup styles Ryan Ross wore in summer 2006:

All four guys in P!ATD started wearing makeup at the beginning of the summer tour with Lucent Dossier (but to varying degrees ha). Dream Rockwell was originally doing their makeup each night, which is why so many of the looks were close to what the Lucent Dossier performers often wore. Dream said that Ryan eventually bought some makeup of his own and asked her to teach him more so he could do it himself... and pretty soon M.A.C. was sponsoring him :)

I REALLY loved the costumes & makeup in the last half of 2006, but I promise I’ll try not to ramble as much as usual here. Basically, fans had fun watching Ryan’s makeup evolve because he’d usually start a theme/idea and then do variations of it for several shows... it was just cool to watch the ideas grow and build on each other. I’ll highlight what I thought were some of the more memorable makeup moments this summer (so I’m skipping over some days, but you can see where they’d fit in):

JUNE 9, 10, 11

JUNE 13-18

most of the looks in early June stuck to basic lines & shapes with some color... I’m not sure when Dream stopped doing Ryan’s makeup because the looks that he did later this summer still drew inspiration from what the Lucent Dossier performers did. (and ok I know 95% of these dates are accurate, but there are 2 pictures where I’m just going with one fan’s word... but even if it’s off, it’s still from the same general time so we’re good).

JUNE 20-25

By this point some fans had started using the “Ry-coon” name for his makeup. He was usually doing dark shapes around both eyes now that had something swooping down onto at least his right cheek. (the first show on June 6th was kind of like a more simplified version of this dark shape idea + the early line designs). wow I’m truly horrible at trying to explain shapes haha I want to use my hands and point to things but instead I’m reduced to “that one line... with the color.” this is going to be entertaining. bear with me.

JUNE 27-29

So the previous theme continued... by the end of June he was going back to a lighter colored eyeshadow base sometimes. The only thing I really want to point out is the two poky spiky things at the corner of his right eye in the last picture because that design + the swooping spiral on his cheek stuck around for a long time. Those elements are similar to part of a look that Roger from Lucent Dossier did, but Ryan made it his own and created so many new looks from that idea. 

(I’ll have to keep referencing that swooping spiral on his cheek with the 2 lines extending from his eye, so I’m just going to call the whole thing “the Tim Burton spiral” to save time... I just made that up btw – it’s not anything legit).

EARLY JULY

the Tim Burton spiral thing continued for most shows in early July. Ryan was also trying a wider range of colors for the eyeshadow base... and then he blended it right across his nose to connect both eyes. 

THE RED STRIP BEGINS...

There were a couple looks in a row that used the red strip. A lot of the fan pictures of Ryan wearing the look pictured above are from the Cleveland show on July 12th. I’m still not 100% sure whether or not Autumn de Wilde did this look that she used in her Spin magazine photos of Ryan (Spin magazine was with the band around July 11th–13th). Roger from Lucent Dossier said that Autumn did Ryan’s makeup look with the birds and Ryan loved it so much that he continued doing it himself. The bird does start in the look above (by Ryan’s ear), but I think by “the birds” he could’ve easily meant the next look. Anyways, the middle picture above is one that the band shared with us... Ryan seemed to really love the whole idea of the strip across his eyes.

THE BIRDS

Speaking of looks Ryan loved... lol he did this for at least 7 shows in mid-July. The pictures above are from July 13-16 in order. Sometimes there was also a different design on the other side of his face, so this look got pretty complex & dramatic. He also started blending other colors into the strip a bit more too... these pictures are a better example.

JULY 22-25

The Denver show on the 22nd was the end of the bird theme. I used the black & white footage because it was easier to see both sides of his face, but it’s hard to tell that the red strip turned into black on the left... the blending in July got pretty dramatic sometimes. 

The middle picture from July 24th was the start of a theme that carried on for several weeks. This look went back to the whole Tim Burton spiral thing Ryan was doing before, but that was on both sides of his face now like Roger’s makeup (in the far right picture above). Roger also did white/silver dots or dashes on his black swooping spiral designs sometimes, but I’m not sure who added that first. It looks like a continuation of the silver details Ryan had started playing with.

JULY 26, 27, & 31

I thought it was fun how you could see the aspects from previous looks that he liked enough to bring back & turn into something new. (The middle picture also has the same design on the right cheek as usual btw).

AUGUST 1 & 2

The regular Tim Burton spiral design grew a bit smaller on his left cheek on August 1st and then disappeared for the final show in the summer tour so the design was only on the right side of his face. He was still blending a bit of darker color into the strip, but it wasn’t nearly as dramatic as July. Here’s more detail from the start of August:

I suppose August is still summer, so I’ll include the rest of the variations that Ryan did on just this one theme...

AUGUST 4 (LOLLAPALOOZA)

The same look continued, except he had simplified the design to only be on one cheek at this point. The blending on the strip across his eyes was also a bit lighter and less dramatic than previous looks. I like how he put the straight edge of the spiral on top this time around... it looked really cool.

LATE AUGUST: 18, 19, 22

Ryan tried several new looks for some of the European shows in late August, but the 3 dates above still used some kind of version of the blended strip across his eyes with the Tim Burton spiral design.

[liketheinferno2]

Do you have any types for new artist with aphantasia? You're the first ever artist i've met who has it like me and i find myself struggling a lot ):

Tips? Mostly just use a lot of reference and don’t be afraid to work through a sketch a lot to get it to look the way it’s supposed to, I’ll often grab a whole limb and rotate it with the transform tool then draw over again. Drawing like this feels like... you get better at packing on the pieces and finding the combinations that work instead of trying to realise an idea that was already formed, at least for me.

I only have digital tips but it might be worth learning to photobash your references -- photobashing is taking prexisting photos, textures and stock, then putting it together and painting over to get the image you want. It’s used a lot in concept art but I’ll use it to make location references for my stories because I can’t visualise the locations at all. Like this, and after I’ve done this I can just reference the final image instead of bashing my official art (never posted this pic btw, only refer back to it) --

Another thing to try is I know that it’s very hard to think in 3D when you can’t think visually at all so it might be worth trying to stylistically lean into the flatness and make use of the fact that you’re drawing on a 2D plane. One of my favourites I’ve done is this (below) where there’s not REALLY an in-front or behind in a fully realised way but I tried to stack/overlap different features like I was laying thin slices over each other, then differentiated it through values instead of perspective. 

It might be good to put some extra attention into the light and dark balance of your stuff because Things Being Different Colours (Or Textures) is usually something the aphantasic brain can grasp better when it comes to differentiating parts of your piece.

The other thing with this particular piece is I couldn’t grasp the composition so I ASKED FOR HELP. @xxtrashcatxx​ and I share these characters so I simply asked her for direction and she sent stained glass windows and a pose she’d drawn of two people hands clasped. When we work on the official Dies Irae illustrations she outright draws the thumbnails for me because collab powers with someone who can make mental images. So connecting with artist friends can be a great help. 

Scaling down a bit, it also um might take longer than average to grasp art basics because you’re basically training your hands to think for you instead of just drawing. Finding your Aesthetic might be more a conscious choice you have to make, I know when my visualisation skills were GOING (because I used to have them, just a little bit, when I was younger, then developed brain issues lol) I spent a while artistically lost because the idea of drawing cool things didn’t occur to me when I could no longer see the cool things in my head. Sometimes you need to look at other art to be reminded of what you’re allowed to DO. Or maybe I’m just boring inside LOL

Now I very intentionally keep reference folders, pinterest boards, inspiration hoard, got my reblog sideblog, just as much intentional guidance as possible. Running theme here is if you need the help, use it. Look at to tutorials. Do studies or appropriations when the original idea just won’t come, there’s a reason my therapy art is highly-referenced adaptations of classical art or just a plain portrait sometimes. Original Idea Original Pose Original Composition is what I consider a high effort piece, but to chill out and draw for fun I’ll often just reference stock photo poses or magazine covers instead, it’s lower stress that way and I still get the practice in.

I don’t know a lot of artists with aphantasia besides @iliothermia who does the most delicately and lovingly detailed transmasc art I’ve seen and is a massive inspiration to me, in part BECAUSE of his aphantasia; the fact that someone with the same kinda brain as me is already making the kind of art I love the most and doing it such a tender and well-realised way gives me ARTISTIC HOPE FOR THE FUTURE WOOOOO

Thanks for the ask, keep at it, I hope this was ANY? Help? Good luck too.

[hanramm156]

Rammstein mentioned in Finnish media

I have no idea why, but Rammstein is super popular in Finland. Almost everyone here seem to have an opinion about them: some think they are just a bunch of weirdo German guys who love cannibals while some are hardcore fans, appreciating their art and getting what they are trying to say with their dark lyrics and heavy riffs. There are also a lot of people who just enjoy the shows for entertainment and have perhaps heard a song or two via radio, but not considering themselves fans. (Reminds me of a bunch of guys in the gig in Helsinki in 2012 who were getting drunk before getting into the venue, talking loudly how they were finally able to escape their wives, lmao.)

I did some research what Finnish media has said about Rammstein and I found some funny and very random stuff as well. Reading these news reminded me of one interview where Ollie or Schneider said that fans understand them much better than general media and it was visible in most of the stuff I found: the journalists clearly didn’t  have the slightest clue about the band. They are often referred in biggest media channels (like Yle or Iltalehti) as “a heavy band with big explosion who love to boil their keayboardist, omg :O:O:O” There are also some really cute and nice stuff, especially when the fans are speaking and not only some random journalists.

But yeah, here are some random articles/news/whatever that relate somehow to Rammstein. Tell me if there is something you want to be completely translated and also, share your country’s media’s interpretations, I’d love to see them!

- This was actually quite cute article about the Ratina concert last summer (you know a country is small when there’s a huge hype about big international stars coming there, especially to a city that is not their capital). They were asking people about their opinions of Rammstein and everyone seemed to be very enthusiastic about the concert. There was even a guy from Australia who came all the way to Tampere to see them. Amazing.

- Not completely Rammstein related, but an article about a metalhead priest who uses Rammstein’s music as her inspiration when she writes sermons. Awesome.

- When world-famous artists come to Finland and even decide to take a couple of days off here after their concerts and not flying immediately back home, it’s worth mentioned in news. They said Rammstein went to fishing and sauna. :33 There was also a poll where they asked what you’d recommend for artists who come to Finland - coming to my place, of course!

- Our boys had to pay 200k euros for the new lawn for Ratina Stadium because the football people were upset.

- A review of the gig, where the writer wasn’t clearly satisfied about what he saw. He was for example complaining that the start of the show was weak and the band had on purpose given permission for taking photos only of the three of the first songs when “there didn’t happen anything interesting yet.” He also said that: “Rammstein is famous for their outrageous performances” and under the picture of them all in Was ich liebe: “there are six German guys on the stage wearing funny costumes but no flames or visuals.” I dunno, but it was funny. They also wrote Sehnsucht as “Shensucht” at first and I cracked up a bit.

- Once again, a proof you live in a small country when PAUL LANDERS AND CHRISTOPH SCHNEIDER MENTIONED FINLAND IN THEIR INSTAGRAMS OMMMMMMGGGGGG It’s also a bit weirdly written as they say the band met their fans and “were even willing to have photos with them”. Hellooo Iltalehti, never heard about Meet and Greet?

- ZOMG TILL LINDEMANN IS FISHING NAKED IN OUR COUNTRY! AND ALSO, HAS TAGGED FINLAND!! The title is btw super hilarious, it’s even difficult to translate word by word, but it says: “Rammstein is cannoning once again tonight in Tampere - though Till Lindemann is fishing in his own peace without a single piece of clothing still.” Even though the magazine is ultimate garbage, I have to give points for the title.

- A badly written piece of news about the Paulchard kiss. It says: “The band’s two guitarists got excited about kissing each other on the stage.” Lmao. I also died when there was a picture of Paul on top and in the caption it says: “Till Lindemann, the singer of Rammstein.” Close enough.

- A comment from a 70-year-old guy in the city of Tampere’s local newspaper. It went pretty viral fast. The guy, who lives 4km from the venue, said that the horrible cacophony of the concert in Ratina ruined his sleep that night. He even measured the decibels with his phone. About the music and fans he said: “It was repetitive bass thumping” and “the people in the stadium must have been in some kind of trance.” Well, hell of a trance it was then. He also made up a hilarious word “melusaasteaivopesu (noisepollutionbrainwash) that I definitely need to use somewhere, it’s so creative.

- The city of Kerava started giving German lessons with Rammstein lyrics in their local folk’s high school and it got super popular. The course was even filmed briefly to our news. There was also in some other piece of media interview about the principal of the school who was shocked when somebody told her what Rammstein is singing about when the lessons were supposed to be suitable for everyone, lol. In the end, they translated the lyrics of “Mein Land”, “Deutschland” and “Du hast” in the actual course, so not that bad. Can only wonder would they have showed it in the news though if “Bück dich” would have been there...

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #300

that’s a lot of time wasted, lmao

If you were a witch, which animal would be your familiar? Could I have like, a melanistic barn owl? That'd be dope. They're fuckin gorgeous. If there's a design on your shirt, what is it? Ha, speaking of owls... Would you ever visit a ghost town? MOTHERFUCKER would I. Bringing my camera, too. What would you do if you found out your life was only a simulation controlled by someone else? I have a very much Detroit: Become Human (phenomenal game, btw) outlook on this: I think, therefore I am. It honestly wouldn't affect me terribly. I sure would hate my creator though, jfc, lmao. What's the scariest thing you've accidentally found on the internet? Okay so there is this one video filmed by some guys who had this really strange, sulking guy in black stalking them, and it ends with the suspected murderer slinking over to the guys (who were by this point finding it almost funny, due to how the man was acting) and charging with a knife, I think, once he was very close. I believe the men were never found afterwards. It is SO goddamn unnerving. Is there anything bothering you right now? Not to be a Negative Nancy, but when isn't there lmao. Thinking of every Halloween costume you've had, which one was the most creative? I never had creative ones, really. What's the picture on your calendar for this month? I don't have a relevant calender, just old meerkat ones on a wall in my room. If you were a mythical creature, which would you be? As much as I love dragons, they're targeted too much in fantasy to kill, so let's not, haha. Being a dryad would be cool. Or druid. Either/or. If you were an animal, which would you be? A housecat, ig. Were you ever bullied when you were younger and how did you handle it? I consider myself very lucky to have not been. Have you ever thrown something away and then wanted it back? Okay so it's "deleted" versus "thrown away," technically, but there are two senior prom pictures in specific I desperately want back because fuck my low self-esteem, I look beautiful in them and so damn happy. I even tried Facebook restore programs that supposedly recovered all pictures you ever removed, but I couldn't salvage them. I'm still pissed about it, haha. What's one random city you want to visit? I don't have a specific city, per se. More so just countries in general. If you owned a store, what would you most likely sell? I think owning a pet supply store would be really cool, with some animals that are actually very well-cared for, unlike chain pet stores. I HATE those, vehemently. So unspeakably ignorant and neglectful. If you had a garden, what sort of plants would you grow? I don't want a garden, but hypothetically, I'd love orchids, dahlias, tiger lilies, a weeping willow tree, some strawberries... What's your favorite phase of the moon? Full, of course. What's the song for your life right now? I've felt extremely connected to Seether's "Weak" lately. Do you believe that when you die, you get to see all your loved ones again? I hope so... Who would you be the most excited to see? DO I ACTUALLY NEED TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION?????????? Do you enjoy reading National Geographic magazines? If I'm like, sitting in a waiting room and they're available, I'll go for them. Do you know anyone who's serving in the military right now? Welcome to the South, baby. The boys graduate, they're going straight for the military. I only have one real friend who was one but left tho because he fucking hated it. Does or did either of your parents serve in the military? No. Has anything in your house ever caught on fire? Not in this house, no. As a small child, did you ever feel as if you were different or weird? Absofuckinglutely. I have A LOT of bad memories of instances where I felt like "the weird kid." Can you say "happy birthday" in another language? Omg... I forgot the German phrase. Wow, I'm rusty. What subjects do you or did you get the worst grades in? Math. Do you have photos to go with all of the contacts in your phone? I don't have pictures that go with any. Who was the last person to comment on one of your photos on Facebook and how did you meet that person? I just checked, and it was my friend Summer. I met her because she was actually first friends with my younger sister in pre-k, but we grew closer than they did in our teen years. What career paths are you considering? I just want to be a photographer. So badly. But I've felt super, super discouraged lately. Do you watch music videos? I pretty much never do, but rather listen through the artists' Topic uploads or lyric videos. I don't generally like official music videos because they tend to have other sounds/parts/breaks/etc. in them that distract from the song. Have you ever clicked on those banner ads that promise a prize for clicking? Probably by accident at some point in time. What kind of computer are you using? Acer Nitro. What kind of computer do you wish you were using? I'm fine with what I have. Have you ever had a weight change so drastic you went to the doctor? .-. How cold does it have to be before you put on a sweater? Depends on how long I'll be outside, but in most situations, in the 50s. Do you eat things off the floor? Um, ew. Who do people say you look like? My sisters. Do you usually get your homework done on time? When I was in school, I was very serious about having my homework finished by the date it was due. Have you ever framed your old movie ticket stubs? I've kept some, but never framed any. Do you have a digital camera? A Canon, yeah. Have you ever stuck something inappropriate in an electrical outlet? Bitch I ain't tryna get electrocuted. How many days has it been since your last birthday? My b-day is actually coming up soon; the 5th of February. Do you want any more siblings than you have now? Well, considering both my parents (and stepmom) are in their 50s... How easily shocked are you? VERY. I am extremely jumpy and on edge at like all times. You like the color blue, don't you? I mean yeah. Particularly the lighter tints. Who was the last person who asked you something that made you think? My therapist REEEEAAAALLY makes me do this. She's an absolute pro at getting me to dig deep into myself. Ever fired a gun? No, and I don't want to. From 1-10, how would you rate your cooking skills? Is 0 an option? Do you notice the heat or the cold more? HEAT, JESUS FUCK. It can be one or two degrees above what I consider stable and I'll be sweating. I'm hypersensitive to it I know from being in such a consistent temperature in my room like 24/7. Do you believe in miracles? Probably no. What hurts more: scratches or bites? Bites, if you're talking serious ones. Do you prefer rabbits to mice? No, mice (and especially rats) are absolutely amazing, intelligent animals. Bonus points for being mega cute too, though I do find rabbits cuter. Who out of all the people you know reasonably well is the most "dark?" Sara, haha. Favorite chocolate-based candy? Reese's. Do you call anyone babe or baby? My pets sometimes. Name me a food you used to like that you now don't: Peas, olives. Name me a food you now like but never used to: Mashed potatoes, IF prepared very well (by my standards, obviously). Would you rather live in Europe, The US, or Australia? By this point, take me to Europe. If it wouldn't be such a huge life change and leaving so many people, I would 120% move to Canada, but out of these, Europe will do. Would you rather have a big house, a lot of kids, or a high flying job? Give me the high-flying job, 100%. I don't want kids, and I have no need for a large house. Is crime a big problem in your area? Oh yes. What’s your town/city most well-known for? By the locals, being the crime hub, actually, lol. Name 5 objects that you don’t have but would like right now: Hmmm... I want a 40g tank as an upgrade for Venus, a gaming chair for when I turn the extra room into my "office" so I don't destroy my back sitting there, new glasses and a driving permit, and don't forget a gd tattoo needle pounding my skin. :^) If you were given the choice to choose your child’s gender, would you? Yes, I would absolutely want a girl just because IF I wanted kids, I'd want a daughter named Alessandra. Do you get along well with your family doctor/your doctor? Yeah, she's nice. What types of soups do you like? None. If a color could reflect your current mood, which would it be? Grayish blue. The last time you saw fireworks? I really don't know; it's been years, at least. Have you ever gone to a movie premiere? Possibly for Silent Hill: Revelation, but I'm not certain. Who was the last person to make you laugh out loud? My mom, because she made me remember something funny. What was the last commercial you heard selling? *shrug* Do you prefer fairly common names or a bit out of the ordinary ones? Oh, definitely rare and unique ones. Would you rather have a pet cat, dog, horse or tortoise? At this current time, a dog for Mom, which we're actually probably getting. She misses having one super badly. Is your laugh loud, normal or very silent? My laugh is loud and obnoxious as fuck. What are you interested in that most people would be surprised to know? Tarantulas, probably. I love them, even though spiders kinda scare me. Last movie you watched the whole way through? Elf, I think, with Sara's fam. What's your favorite fruit? Strawberries are where it's at. Last time you drank coffee? I've only ever sipped coffee to try to see if I liked it. Never have. I THINK I last took a sip of Sara's when we went on a breakfast date? Has anyone ever called you rich? Calling me rich would be entirely ludicrous. What makes you feel beautiful? Nothing. How many bathrooms are in your house? Two. Last time you were on a plane and where did you go? A couple years ago, coming home from Illinois. Favorite flavor muffin? Uggghhhh chocolate. Do you prefer stripes or polka dots? Polka dots. I tend to find circles visually appealing. Did you take Music when you were in school? I think all the elementary school students did. I was also in band in middle and high school; I played the flute. Why did you last feel like crying? I'm just sick of how my life is going. Do you find being alone with strangers scary, interesting, or indifferent? I find it either awkward or terrifying, depending on the gender. It's not a willing thing or intended sexism whatsoever, I'm just naturally afraid of men. Do your initials spell a legitimate word? If so, what? No. Does someone’s background affect whether you'll be friends with them or not? Well, it depends on what they've done. How about their religious background? No. If someone admitted cheating in a past relationship of theirs, would you trust them? Nope, bye. Did you ever want to be a cook as a kid? No. How about a fashion designer? No. Do you prefer fire or ice? Fire aesthetically, but ice is certainly less intimidating. When happy, do you become more talkative? OH yes. Are you offended easily by non-politically correct language? No, really. I wouldn't say derogatory terms, but I really don't understand why most people put so much weight into a single made-up word. But again, you won't hear that language coming out of my mouth because I understand that it just does hurt some people, and I respect that. Do you think the censors/fcc go a bit too far or are just right? It's gone overboard, imo. What's your I.Q? I don't want to know, haha. Have you ever taken a martial art? Which one{s}? No. Do you know anyone who is scared of you? Um, no. What person who has died would you bring back and why? Probably Steve Irwin. His children have done FUCKING FANTASTIC at carrying on his legacy and purpose, but I feel he could've taught the world so much more than he had time to... Do you like watermelon? No. Too watery. Can you remember the month of your first kiss? Yes, actually. March. What do you think is the most interesting thing about you? I'm unsure, really. Do you like being complimented or does it make you uncomfortable? Both. What artist's paintings do you find the most beautiful? This is an impossible question. What about the most disturbing? Oh man, I watch this one person on deviantART that makes especially creepy artwork. I follow a loooot of dark artists, though, so it's difficult to pick. Have you ever gone to a camp or summer school? A church-related summer thing, yes, as a kid. What was your favorite cartoon as a child? Pokemon was/is where it's at. What was your biggest fear as a child? Thunderstorms, holy shit. Would you rather be able to fly or breathe underwater? Be able to breathe underwater. What about invisibility or mindreading? Definitely invisibility. Mindreading would just... suck. Hurt. Especially if you couldn't control it. Which stereotype do you dislike the most? Good question, considering I hate a shit ton. Can you remember all your past teachers names? No, not all of them. Do you like talent shows? Which ones? I don't mind watching 'em. I particularly used to love America's Got Talent. Have you ever failed an important exam? In what? Yes; I failed horribly at my final math exam the last time I was in school. Are you on any meds? Too many. Just way too many for someone my age. I'm really starting to think I'm over-medicated to where it's dulling my senses, feelings, and also destroying my memory. But I kinda need like... all of them. I'm talking to my psychiatrist in just a couple days though, actually, and I'm going to talk to him about maybe trying to wean me off my OCD med, since I haven't had big symptoms in a long time. I wanna see how I deal without it. What color is your razor? Black and orange. What is your fave frozen treat? Just the classic ice cream. Which supermarket do you like to shop at? We tend to get our groceries from Wal-Mart. Do you struggle to say ‘no’ to things you don’t want to do? YESSIREE. Are you friends with someone a lot of people dislike? I don't think there's anyone that is widely disliked, no. Have you ever had to deal with someone close to you going off to war? No, thankfully. Other than yourself, who did you last buy something for? Mom. What's something you complain about frequently? My legs hurting. It's hard to ignore when taking one step is painful. Have you ever talked about your period with a guy? Were they okay with it, or grossed out? I certainly haven't talked about it in-depth, but it's been mentioned in some way when I was with Jason. I mean we were together for three and a half years, sexually active (and I ain't doing jackshit if it's that time of the month), and I spent as much time with him as possible, so... it woulda came up. I'm sure he was indifferent about it, he was a mature guy. Have you ever been to an Asian (any type) market? If so, what is the closest one to you? No. I've never even heard of one around here. Have you ever slept with a member of the opposite sex without having sex? Back up two questions, haha. That was normal. How would you feel if your significant other had tattoos? Shit man, I love tattoos. I'd obviously not care. How have you been feeling today? Depressed. Where’s your phone right now? On my chest. I'm lying down. Is there a certain person that makes you feel safe? ugh When you drink alcohol with friends, do you play drinking games? I never have. What are the best kind of Girl Scout cookies? I don't remember their names, honestly... but the chocolate and peanut butter ones come to mind.

[calteahood]

A Good Time {Calum Hood}

Rating: M — Please be 18+ to read!

Requested: Yes! “limo sex btw y/n and calum and the condom breaks ?!”

Warnings: Smut! Includes unprotected sex & a lil bit of dirty talk.

Word Count: 2.8k

Author's Note: Here it is! I changed the ask a little bit, but it's basically limo sex with Cal. Definitely used Shawn Mendes's Lost in Japan performance from the VS fashion show in this, by the way. Possible angsty part 2 dealing with the fact that there was no condom used. Anyway, enjoy! 

The event had been a blast. It's not every day you got to go to red carpets, seeing as your name had just gotten out there in the modeling industry. One lucky shoot for a famous magazine had spiked not only your Instagram following but also the amount of work you had been offered. Just a few months ago you were dreaming of being a big name in the industry, and now you're becoming one. Making a name for yourself meant event after event, even if you weren't on the catwalk that night. This night, in particular, you were there purely because it would be a good appearance, wearing a designer dress that your stylist perfectly picked out for you. The event, which was televised on networks at is MTV, consisted of a red carpet, two performances, and three different collections being worn down the catwalk. The fashion was amazing, but the musical intermissions had been even better. Shawn Mendes performed Lost In Japan, which was amazing. Then, later on, the stage was quickly set up for the band 5 Seconds of Summer. While you knew they had dropped a great album recently, you had never seen them live. You never really had a good look at the boys. The bassist caught your eye quick, being on your side of the stage. His muscles flexed as he played their hit song Youngblood, the tight button up fitting over his torso deliciously, showing off his arms. If it wasn't for your team sitting right next to you, forcing you to behave, you would have sent the man a wink when he looked over to you. Throughout the show, you sat with your manager on the right and your publicist on the left. Being a newer face also meant your every move was being watched. Your team was surrounding you all the time, making sure no bad paparazzi photos could appear, you never misspoke in interviews, and no scandals would arise. It was a blessing to have such a great team, and of course you were thankful, but having a group of people surrounding you constantly meant making it harder to sneak around. Being alone was a rarity unless it was in your own home and no paparazzi happened to be stalking us out of your house. Having such a strong team meant having a weak sex life. Staying out of trouble simply meant don't be caught by the paps either going home with a boy to hook up or leaving his house the next morning. You had been good about that, really, but the event showed you that it would be impossible to stay single forever, not with men looking that good playing bass right in front of you. You had no scandals and had been quite sweet throughout the quick boom of your modeling career. You were seen as kind, a natural beauty and a face for all women who don't have the average "model" body you'd see on Victoria's Secret ads, and you were proud that you had created such a good name for yourself. You were genuinely happy that you are making other people feel better about themselves, so what would be the issue if you finally started dating? Of course, you could understand one night stands might be scandalous, but you were craving another man's touch and, despite what your team said, being seen with a man was not going to ruin your image. Which is why at the after party you made a bit of a bold move. While your manager was looking away, speaking to one of their friends from the industry, you walked over to the bar on the other side of the room. Both the band and Shawn had the opportunity to bring plus one's along with them, so when you saw the handsome bassist without a plus one, just hanging out with the drummer while the others had their arms slung around their girlfriends, you knew you had to pounce. The drummer noticed you first as he walked up to the group, but he could easily tell your eyes were glued to the Maori man sat beside him. You walked up, faking confidence as the group made you a bit nervous, but you couldn't let them know. Confidence is sexy, and if you could fake it till you make it then maybe you wouldn't go home alone tonight. "Hey," you greeted loud enough to be heard over the music. You saw the handsome man's eyes quickly look you up and down, eyeing the tight cocktail dress you put on for the after party specifically. Hook. "You guys did great on your performance!" You turned your attention to the basis, seeing that your compliment had made him smile. Line. With your attention on the rockstar in front of you, you smoothly added on, "I especially loved the bass. You played so well tonight. Totally blew me away." At that, he smirked. Sinker. "Well thank you," he said. That damn smirk was going to be the end of you. The way his lips curved up, so inviting. He was attractive beyond belief. Keeping your attention on him, you spoke up again. "I was actually wondering if you wanted to dance." You hastily followed that with your name, hoping he'd tell you his in return. He looked you over once more. Of course he wanted to dance! He couldn't take his eyes off of you throughout the entire performance. After his first gaze at you, he quickly decided that you could be wearing the couture dress or just one of his t-shirts, and you'd still be the prettiest person in the room just like how he thought you were tonight. Standing from his seat at the bar, he held his hand out for you to gently set your own on to before bringing the back of your hand up to his lips, pressing a soft kiss against the back of your hand. "'M Calum. I'd like to dance." He brought you to the dance floor, which was filled with other models, men and women. He spun you around, pressing your back against his front. Your hands easily found their way into his hair, holding him close to you. While his own hands held onto your hips, his head ducked a bit so he could whisper to you. "What about me caught your eye, pretty girl?" Fuck. The way his lips brushed against your ear. If it wasn't completely inappropriate to take him right then and there you'd be on your knees in seconds. Turning your head to the side, your own lips so close to his, you said, "You looked amazing on stage, like you know how to have a good time." He chuckled, his hips swaying with yours. "I can show you one if you'd like?" The surge of confidence took over. A beautiful model, a woman so unique and powerful, wanted him? He had heard of you before, recently seeing your face on magazines and all over social media. He knew you're one hell of a woman, but he could also see right through your confidence tonight. He made you nervous. But then again, you made him nervous too, so you were both faking confidence for each other. Though, it seemed to be working considering how your ass was willing pushing against the forming bulge in his pants. "That is if you're interested." You smirked. This was it. And hey, if he showed you a good enough time you definitely wouldn't mind meeting up again for seconds. "I'd love that. Let's go." And with that, you grabbed his hand and hurried out of the dark room. Hopefully, everyone was too busy partying to notice. You took him around the back, to where all the limos were waiting. Calum kept his head down as you approached yours, knocking on the driver's window. When the window rolled down you gave a sweet smile to your driver. "Think you can get us out of here? I'm ready to go home." You gave her a look, basically begging to not ask why you were in a hurry or if you wanted to wait for your manager. "Get in, you guys. Tell me your address, I'll have you there as soon as I can," she said. You quickly told her where you live, and when she told you that it'd be about a forty-minute drive, you rushed to the back. The limo's partition was already up when you two slid in. It seemed as if the forty-minute drive wouldn't be too bad. Once comfortable, Calum turned towards you. "So," he started, "I'm guessing you don't get too many opportunities to get around and meet guys. Be honest, what made me special?" You grinned. You could read him a whole damn list if he wanted you to. Plus, looks aside, he seemed very interesting. What did his tattoos mean? Why did he have a little blonde streak in his hair? Why was he wearing such a fancy jacket to the after party? Every little thing about him made you curious. "You're very handsome, very talented, and if I'm being honest here, I couldn't keep my eyes off of you while you were on stage. Thank goodness you were on the side of the stage I was sitting at; I had the best seat in the house." You flirted a bit, teasing each other. His hand went to rest on your exposed thigh. "You're definitely right, I don't get to meet men often, but when they look as good as you I absolutely have to shoot my shot." With a smug look on his face, Calum asked, "And how many men have you approached who look as handsome as me?" His hand began to slide up, toying with the end of your dress. You giggled. "Would I get extra brownie points if I say that you're my first?" He gently squeezed your thigh before moving his free hand to lightly grip your chin. "Good answer, pretty girl." He pulled you to him, finally locking your lips together. If you thought this could ever be a one-time thing, you were wrong. His mouth on yours, biting your bottom lip and moving your tongues together felt way too good. You moved to straddle his lap, his hands moving to push up your tight dress. He pulled away from your mouth to travel down to your neck, leaving light, soft kisses. "If we're gonna do this we gotta make it quick. Only got a half hour before we're at yours." With your dress hiked up to your waist, he moved one of his hands to your panties, easily pushing the lacey fabric aside. You gasped when he grazed his finger over your clit. As he played with you, you pushed his sparkling jacket off his shoulders and undid the buttons of his shirt. You knew you weren't going to be able to get him naked in the limo, but at least his chest was exposed a bit. You moved down to undo his belt and pants, feeling over his hard-on. You couldn't wait to get him out of those pants. He slid his finger down to your entrance, thumb still rubbing your clit, and gently pushed in. You gasped, finally feeling something inside you. Calum turned your head to face him, leaning your foreheads together. He slowly worked his finger in and out of you. "Can't believe how wet you are for me," he mumbled against your lips, pushing in another finger. He started to speed up his movements, brushing that sweet spot inside you, making you moan out. The way you sounded moaning and whimpering his name only egged him on. Taking back a bit of control you finish undoing his pants, pulling them down a bit. You palmed him through his boxers before pulling those down too, allowing his cock to spring up. He was hard, pre-cum covering his tip, ready for you. You wrapped your hand around him, giving a few good pumps before you heard him hiss and grab your ass. He pulled out his fingers, bringing them between you two. You stuck out your tongue, giving his fingers a small lick, tasting yourself. He grinned at this and stuck the fingers in his mouth. He loved the way you tasted and couldn't wait to get back to your house where he could lay you down and eat you out for hours. During this, he pulled you closer to him, placing your cunt directly over his length. You pressed down a bit, feeling the head of his cock against your wet hole. "No more teasing, pretty girl." With that, he held your hips and pushed you down, sinking his cock into your tight pussy. You both moaned out, loving the feeling. Once you adjusted to the way his cock felt inside you, you pulled away the tiniest bit only to move back down again. His hands traveled to your ass, one hand squeezing while the other helped hold your panties to the side. You bounced a couple more times, groaning at the way he stretched you until you found your rhythm. You began to bounce at a pace that had both of you begging for more. The limo was filled with the sounds of your ass slapping against his thighs and the naughty, slippery sounds your pussy made each time you took his cock in. "Fuck Cal, I'm close," you whined out. At this, he attached his fingers to your clit, rubbing quickly to help you reach your orgasm. In no time he had you moaning. "Cal— fuck! I'm gonna cum, I'm gonna cum!" You both were loud messes as you came all over his cock. You stopped bouncing, so he took it upon himself to thrust up, never giving you a break, chasing his orgasm. "Look so good cumming on my cock, fuck. Gonna take my load? Gonna let me cum in your tight little cunt?" He groaned against your lips. You eagerly nodded. Fuck, how you wanted everything he had to offer. You felt him speed up his thrusts, grabbing at you so tight that you knew you'd have bruises tomorrow. You could moan just thinking about it. Right before he was about to cum he pressed his lips against yours. You immediately opened your mouth, allowing your tongues to move against one another. With a couple rough thrusts, he stilled in you, releasing into your warm, wet pussy. You pulled away from each other, grabbing at the closest phone you could find to check the time. You were about five minutes from when your driver said you'd be home. Glancing back at him, you noticed his smile. He had the prettiest post orgasm face, heart eyes for days as he looked at you. You giggled. How could a man be so sexy and so cute at the same time? Carefully, you pulled off of him. Both of you hissed at the loss of contact. You sat down, pulled your panties off, and used that as your impromptu cum rag. It wasn't the best option, but it was the only one you had. After cleaning up Calum's cum that dripped onto your thighs, you cleaned his cock. You made sure to be gentle, knowing he was just as sensitive as you after a fucking like that. You each fixed your outfits, preparing for the drive to end. Once ready, you finally faced each other. Suddenly, you both broke out laughing. "Fuck, I can't believe we just did that!" Calum nodded, wrapping his arm around you. "It was amazing pretty girl. Took me so well. Did I live up to my word? Did I show you a good time?" he asked. You pretended to contemplate his question as the limo came to a stop outside your home. "I don't know… I think you'll need to show me more before I can make a final decision." Calum grinned. He saw through your little act, and there was no way in hell he would decline your offer of letting him fuck you more. You shook up his whole night, and now he didn't want to let go of you. "I think I can do that." He opened the door, getting out and reaching a hand out to you to pull you along with him. You thanked your driver before leading him to your door. As soon as you two made it inside you were pressed against the door, his lips on yours. You pushed him back, leading the way to your bedroom, in hopes he'd continue showing you all he had to offer. You were thankful you had such a great team, and a job that empowered you and other women as well. You were thankful for the car you drove, the house you had, and the life you got to live. But most of all, you were thankful for Calum, for that night, and for the best time of your life so far.

--

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[yearslateforyugiohshippings]

Dark Magician Collection!

I wanted to give a detailed view and update of my DM card collection since I have ‘finished’ it - at least as far as I can. 2 cards are still missing, but I can’t find them online atm. Goal was to have all English and German prints - there are some other nice ones in my collection, too! You will see :D

Long post ahead!

high res: https://sta.sh/0zsj9r0b0bq

Starting of with the very old starter deck cards and the secret rares of this artwork (which is my favourite - who would have guessed!) I really love the secret rares of this artwork and secret rare as a rarity in general <3 But as you can see, the DDS card has a crease - but I’m okay with that since it dropped it worth to an amount I could buy :’D Maybe I will get a flawless one in the future. The card itself funnily is without scratches. I would really like to know how the bend happend.

high res: https://sta.sh/0hnagpqi7al

Next up: DUSA ultra rares - which I don’t like very much since for some reason the duelist saga UR is not very appealing to me. The foil is weird. The CT13 tin promos are great tho ;D The others are commons, so nothing special to say about them.

high res: https://sta.sh/07tofx0eqh4

Trivia time! I will use the CT13 cards as an example since they’re here :U American und European cards often slightly differ in colour and brightness in general. American versions are often lighter and that’s why there are many players who prefer them over the European prints (at least here in Europe, can’t say anything about other places). The right one is an American print and the purple is a lot warmer and the ornaments on the armor are more pink (but I couldn’t capture that on a single pic alone, so just imagine it ;D)

high res: https://sta.sh/011f8bwlgnic

Here we have the lasts cards of artwork 1 - The oldest DM I have in the left corner with signatures of my old school buddies which I let them give me before moving away all the years ago. This card is heavily damaged :’D on the spot right to it is a card I was very unsure about putting it into the collection since it actually is an OCG card even if it’s English. It’s a promo card from the 2015 Japanese championship. BUT I got it relatively cheap on ebay a few weeks ago, so well, I won’t complain. Also here: The ghost rare DM and another 2015 promo - but in Korean - both 201 promo cards have the same rarity (Millennium Rare) so I assume tehy’re the same card...? Moving to the right we have the original booster pack 1 - LOB - Dark Magician and below the cards from the second Yugi themed starter deck. One of the LOB magicians (German) belonged to a friend (one of them who signed the card on the left) and it was a very hard fight for getting him to trade it as a kid. But I never gave it away afterwards. I met this friend again, 12 years later, and he actually remembered and was very happy about (and still slightly mad since he collects all old cards and this one was hard to get for him again) me keeping it <3

high res: https://sta.sh/01wupx9i1ej2

Just a try to get the millennium rare effect on camera, but it’s actually hard to do - there are hieroglyphs all over the card!

high res: https://sta.sh/01zin64ns445

Detail shot of the ghost rare card - this rarity is so cool. It has a little 3D effect and the colours only come through in the perfect light (artificial light works much better than sunlight for some reason) - but it can’r be captured in only one photo. So enjoy the nice eye he has here - they really pop out in the ghost rare!

high res: https://sta.sh/01rzdwdjum22

Moving on to the page of shame since this is the page with the last missing 2 cards - which are the red rare and blue rare English DL11 Dark Magician. I actually bought the blue rare - but it went missing in the shipping process. It’s a shame. This makes me sad and angry. But besides that, I like the coloured rares. I don’t know, but it just adds a nice twist to the normally a little boring rares.

high res: https://sta.sh/03enz6dy6aw

I don’t have much to say about this page... the Retro Pack DM are nice URs and we have 2 SCRs again... Oh! I know what to tell you about them: this artworks BPT print is quite cheap - the other one, 1st artwork, is most times actually expensive. And the FL1 SCR has the most disappointing foil I’ve ever seen. I tried to capture it on the next pic:

high res: https://sta.sh/01qliw7ut9k3

You can guess the SCR effect, but it’s so bad/weak I had this card for weeks until I read online that it’s a SCR card - I didn’t even realise it! I thought it’s a normal rare on the first glance :’D You can guess how weak it is in comparison to the BPT card on the right which is also not the brightest SCR, but this one is glittering like crazy next to FL1

high res: https://sta.sh/03ksjuu3g8v

The last card (DLG1) of artwork two on the left with two random Japanese cards I happend to have - look how worn out they are! I had them for a very long time, getting them as a teenanger, and I don’t know where they came from. There were a lot of Japanese cards flowing around in my childhood. On the right we got Arkanas best buddy - he only got this one print in German and English and they’re not even that old. It’s a shame they took so long to get printed in the TCG. The Japanese one again is one of the cards I had for a long time - it came from a pack in which DMG, Dark Magic Curtain, Thousand Knives and Magical Box also were included (correct me if I’m wrong, I may not remember it correctly) The card on the bottom right... I don’t know what it is, but the artwork is cool :D

high res: https://sta.sh/01e6aviafcqy

I mean, look at it!

high res: https://sta.sh/019j9fc9lz0q

Artwork number 4! Structure deck cards in the top left, below them promos from the old PC game (they have a nice SCR effect which glitters like this # instead of a straight line or /) On the right some commons and the sexy ultimate rares.

high res: https://sta.sh/0136gaeq9ukq

They’re just cool.

high res: https://sta.sh/09qrjr2mgd3

The most valuable page in this binder- because of the baby sitting in the bottom right corner <3 But first, take a look to the left. Top row: commons which also came in the structure/starter deck in which the UMR were included. Bottom row: SCRs but with a shimmer which goes like this: / Top right: URs Bottom right: The two almost identical prints with the most difference in value in the whole collection - the left one is a few € and the right one is a few 100 :’D This P in the serial number must be really valuable. Sad thing: They’re only rares with some starfoil thing going on (I don’t know how the rarity is called, it’s not actually starfoil since there are no stars on it but dots). It’s a shame. They’re not even very pretty :’D

high res: https://sta.sh/06t96pbi963

This page is interesting again since we’re switching artworks :D But I would like to add that the DB1 prints here do have the colour difference between American and European version again (but I didn’t capture it in an additional photo this time) - I mostly own European English versions, so I thought I could mention it again ;> JUMPing to the right (badumm-tss) we have artwork #5 with the promos out of the Jump magazine and the first apprearance of the true Black Magician ;P Below them is one the old promotional cards they had ind the Banzai magazine (I guess). The Magical Circle next to it was just a thing I got as an addition and it was fitting to also put it here instead of losing it in my other cards.

high res: https://sta.sh/0354sytgik2

Another shot of the Jump cards to show some things. First of: They don’t have the bold grey border the artworks usually have on all cards - I did realise this lately. It finally made sense to me why I always thought they look strange! It was a mind-blown-moment. And second: You can see that at some point they changed the size of the picture on the card in direct comparison! And for some reason the newer print (right) is more crisp and a little brighter.

high res: https://sta.sh/01ktxzsdnqcx

Artwork #6 - which is pretty nice btw - and the very sexy field center card released this year plus an old bandai card. The tag for the bottom left row is missing since they are the newest prints (came in the Yugi-Kaiba-Deck duo box this year) and I simply was to lazy to stick one of my beautiful tags on them :’D It would have been very nice to have the golden parts on the field center card shiny gold/metallic printed tho.

high res: https://sta.sh/01vkzvfl9qzu

Movie artwork and also the last artwork for now - until the new one hits the stores on 22.12.18 in Japan. I should have sorted them in an other way starting with the URs, going to the gold rares and endling with the gold secret rares which are the ultimate shiny glitter-fuck-fest you can have :’D I love them. In the right corner is the Token card from the tins last year and a very nice business card of a German online card shop infront of my Konami ID card. This way I will never lose or forget to bring it since I’m always travelling with my magicians if I’m going for some plays or the small weekly tournament in my city.

high res: https://sta.sh/0gkts6ykil8

Last additional page - the coloured rares again but in French! :D Exept the purple rare, it’s missing. But instead I put an anime orica in there. And since the oversized DM card also got a serial number and it’s English it’s in my collection, too ;D

Wow, this was a ride. It took me about 1,5 hours to write this wall of text and put pictures in and so on. I actually have a second binder slowly filling up with DMs, but they’re not unique prints and just all the cards in here over again since I just trade for every DM I can get :U It’s fun!

I don’t know for which cards I’m going next. Maybe some more European ones like Spanish, French, Portoguese or Italian or just gong for the Japanese and Korean cards. Maybe a little of both. Just get what I can grab.

[oneweekoneband]

King’s X - Out of the Silent Planet (from Gretchen Goes to Nebraska 1989)

Take what you’ve learned, set it free

See what you’ll see

Sometimes I wonder whether I was conscious in seventh grade. I mean, I literally was -- I’m haunted by the spectre of my English teacher, a proper Southern gentleman, picking his nose and thoughtfully examining his findings. Nevertheless, life before eighth grade took place in a viscous mental state, as though my right-handed brain was trying to think left-handed while confined inside a jello mold. Sometime during eighth grade, someone -- probably my new, kleenex-using English teacher -- added metaphorical acid or whatever disintegrates jello to my metaphorical jello mold and all the mental viscosity slurped away and my mind regained use of its dominant hand, which promptly threw into the air a prehistoric bone that turned into a spaceship: DUN-DUNNNNNNH! Everything turned sharper, quicker, clearer.

That wouldn’t happen until the fall of 1990. Before that, glurb. But in the spring semester of 1990, two sparks of nascent consciousness appeared: I started listening to the Top 40 countdown every Saturday morning, and my parents got me my very own magazine subscription from Focus on the Family.

Breakaway magazine was the FOTF empire’s new method for colonizing the minds of teenage boys. (The mysterious Brio took care of the girls.) FOTF, you’ll recall, is the evangelical nonprofit founded by Dr. James Dobson, noted child psychologist, religious ponderer, unrepentant spanker, suave complementarian, and in 2008, the doomsaying author of “Letter From 2012 In Obama’s America,” which let’s just say didn’t pan out. A mixed legacy. But his impact on my developing aesthetic was profound.

I’d get really excited whenever my parents got mail from Dr. Dobson, because his newsletters opened up my small Missouri town (population 5,280) to The World. I mean, “Piss Christ”! Somewhere out there was a motherfucking photo of a CRUCIFIX submerged in Andres Serrano’s URINE. I wasn’t a complete dope -- this was clearly supposed to offend me, but it was still pretty cool. As was The Last Temptation of Christ. Dr. Dobson’s movie critics could have said, “This movie is thoughtful and anguished for three hours and you’ll probably go to sleep,” which is what happened when I watched it a few years later. But no! Sex with Mary Magdalene! The disciples spitting bloody transubstantiated flesh out of their mouths! (Sadly, that bit didn’t make the shooting script.) This fucking thing was so lurid I knew I had to see it -- you know, so I could condemn it with authority.

When Breakaway started, its music reviews were disguised as an advice column. Some kid (or FOTF plant) would write in asking what the fatherly columnist thought of, say, Paula Abdul’s “Opposites Attract.” Fatherly columnist would hold the music’s lyrics up to Scripture’s plumb line and discern whether we his readership should fill our ears with this tripe. Occasionally he’d mention the music. “Opposites Attract” didn’t pass the test. Its overall message was good, averred fatherly columnist, but that line about “She makes the bed/And he steals the covers” implied Paula and her boyfriend were sleeping together outside marriage, rendering the song off-limits for Christian teens. This was reasonable.

Even so, thoughts arrived like butterflies. What if Paula Abdul was supposed to be married to the Wild Pair? By quoting this troublesome line in Breakaway, wasn’t fatherly columnist soiling our minds as thoroughly as if we’d just listened to “Opposites Attract”? Which I continued to do, btw, even though it’s clearly the second worst single off the first two Abdul albums. (Since you asked, “Knocked Out.”) In fact, the sexual implications of the line only occurred to me because of fatherly columnist’s advice! After which they continued to occur to me. Daily. Again and again.

Fatherly columnist was also no fan of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus.” He couldn’t understand why le Mode would be so sarcastic about the Savior of the world, and he encouraged us to call radio stations that were playing the song and breathe heavily into the phone -- “hoohoohoo hahaha hoohoohoo HA!” Either that or we could just tell the DJ how offended we were. I dialed our local radio station once when they were airing that bit of blasphemy. The DJ didn’t answer, drunk as he was on the blood of nubile goats.

I swear we’ll get back to King’s X in a second, but let the record show that two years later, Breakaway gave a hearty recommendation to the first Arrested Development album, despite some “mild profanities” and “sexual images.” While fatherly columnist was fishin’ 4 sex and cusswords, he’d presumably also heard the lines, “This government needs to be overthrown/ Brothers with their AKs and their 9mms/ Need to learn how to correctly shoot them/ Save those rounds for revolution/ Poor whites and blacks bumrushing the system.” Since he didn’t mention those lines in his review, I assumed he approved. For those following along at home, here’s the Focus on the Family scorecard. Stealing the covers outside marriage: not good. Blaspheming Gnostic Jesus: worthy of protest. Armed revolution: OK!

In my first or second issue of Breakaway, “somebody” “asked” about King’s X. The reply was the most important record review I’ve ever read in my life.

“Nobody knows about King’s X, and they’re great!” raved fatherly columnist. He knew about them: a hard rock trio from Texas who harmonized like the Beatles and were inspired by C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy. Dad had a copy of the Space Trilogy on his shelf, and it had seemed tempting yet forbidding for years. (Like spending a night on the Fixed Land, amirite?) I had to hear this music. I would find Gretchen Goes to Nebraska at the mall.

I wish I could tell you I played the opening song, “Out of the Silent Planet,” with its ethereal 12-string bass riff and its cryptic Christianese lyrics, and felt lifted to new vistas of nirvana and/or joy. I was actually a little disappointed. It’s not like I had so much money to spend on tapes, and the mall was a half hour away! For eight bucks or whatever, I wanted seismic life disruptions. I wanted “Sweet Child O’ Mine” reshaping my fear of hard rock into bliss, or Exposé’s “Tell Me Why” making me jump around the bedroom. King’s X had their moments but they were a little weird.

I told my parents as much a few months later: “They’re kind of like a cult band.” They stared at me from the breakfast nook, bewildered, as though I’d started heavy breathing “Personal Jesus” into their faces. Not an occult band, I quickly backtracked -- “their lyrics are weird and they’re maybe Christian, maybe not.” Why on earth was I throwing around words like “cult band” and “lyrics”? Had I gotten this stuff from Breakaway or Casey Kasem? Whatever. My parents seemed satisfied with this explanation, little concerned that their son was dabbling in the dark art of rock criticism.

My friends, it got worse from there. That fall, on Saturday nights after Twin Peaks, I started falling asleep on my bedroom floor while listening to college radio. (Dad, a Lutheran pastor, would be in the next room with a highball, writing the next morning’s sermon until 1 or 2 in the morning.) Lindenwood College’s Crossroads show played mostly mainstream Christian rock -- Petra, Stryper, Holy Soldier, Idle Cure, Geoff Moore, Liaison -- but sometimes they’d throw in alt-rock bands like The Choir. King’s X’s album Faith Hope Love came out in October of 1990, and at least four of its songs swiftly entered Crossroads’ rotation. Eagerly taping them off the radio, I got the same shivery music fan feeling I’ve only had a couple times since -- that affirmation of a private pleasure being embraced by the outside world. It was thrilling. (I assume this is how hardcore Metallica fans felt about the Black Album.) I heard Gretchen with new ears and expected King’s X to conquer the music world. I had no idea what that could possibly mean.

Here, in a nutshell, we find the perpetual joy and heartache of King’s X fans.

[grgop]

Day 22 | Visiting Koyasan-Okunoin, Kongobuji and Hojo-in (and night with the giant spiders)

Hey guys! I have 3 more days out of 29 left to describe adventures from my trip in Japan. I would like to continue with Day 22 when I was already in the camp, my fourth day with the campers, and our next locations were several temples and the traditional hotel somewhere in the mountains of Wakayama-prefecture. This includes going to the Okunoin temple which is part of Koyasan area, followed by the lunch and visit to the Memorial Monument of Lions Club, then a buse ride to Kongobuji temple and lastly to Hojo-in temple and the hotel which behaved literally like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Unfortunately I do not believe you will be able to read about this day with plenty of information as I will not have enought time, we visited so many places each with its own story and so many things happened I would have to break it into two posts. However, let me try to keep it short.

Visiting Koyasan-Okunoin

We left our hotel in Osaka after spending a day at the Universal Studios Japan. What it was like you can read and see in three of my reports. After breakfast we left for the temple of Koyasan where the trip lasted for almost 3 hours. What I remember while arriving there is that it is a part of the larger complex with several temples. It was all suggesting we were going to have an awesome time today, especially if you are a fan of the Buddhist temples, rituals and walks through the forest. Unfortunately, it was raining practically the whole day that even extra umbrellas were needed to survive. All of these places are located in Wakama Prefecture maybe just about on the half of the way between Osaka city and Wakayama (a bit closer to Wakayama though).

Okunoin temple (part of the Koyasan area) and the especially the area and the path leading to it are just amazing. I had to have a look at all of my photos and on the internet to remind me and there is just so much to tell you about.

The path that leads to it is maybe half an hour or more long and you are walking among thousands of little temples, shrines and the tombs throught the forest. All in gray and green. Here is where I learned about the red clothes put on the sculptures or columns at the cemetires that actually show that there was a baby or a child that died.

One of such places were several big pyramides of little sculptures and plenty of colorful rags or scarfs put aruond them. For a moment one would have thought to be in some other country as this with the pyramides was strange for me to associate with Japan. While walking through the forest of the very tall trees we end up across several smaller bridges in front of the stairs that climb on a hill.

Behind the enormous dark gates upon the stairs one finds the huge temple, also in dark colours, that was surrounded with so white stone that almost looked like snow!

We entered the temple and what I noticed was the ceiling full of hundreds of little lanterns. We had a priest there who showed us a little bit things around and we came across a book where you could write a message referring to the luck or wishing someone luck. It was not a guestbook of course and I saw that noone really wrote stupid messages there as we use to while visiting some places. Alongside the book were many of amulets or luck artifacts with kanji on it. On some of the wooden sticks even one could write a message but since we knew no Japanese except for few friends most of us did not touch it. There was also a donation box which is quiet normal for all the sacret places in Japan to have. Unfortunately, we were not supposed to take photographs of the interior...

Lunch and the Memorial Monument of Lions Club

We went then back for the lunch at the big restaurant house near the parking lot. There was some other large building close by that might have been a train station. After lunch (and this time meal was difficult for us) we were supposed to visit the Memorial Monument of the Lions Club when it started to rain heavily. We had to bring more umbrellas from the bus to help the others without it. It took us about 10 minutes of walking till we reached this cemetary and the Memorial Monument in the middle of it. We spent there several minutes and commemorated the dead members of the Lions Club. The Japanese cemeteries look a bit different from ours. While we prefer to have the horizontal epitahs with the name and the text written horizontally in Japan the columns are being preferred with the text (signs) written vertically. What I also noticed was that many of these columns had a hole at the top whre one could put a candle. And the top of it then was closed by a little roof that looked like a square or the roof of the temples.

Visiting Kongobu-ji temple

Our next destination was the temple of Kongobuji which is maybe the biggest temple we have been to and covers pretty large area. I remember the white sand aroudn the path after passing the huge gates and then the classic – taking of the shoes and leaving them at the wooden stairs. Walking then through the hallways that were connecting the rooms and halls (maybe everything on some kind of a platform) in the socks until we were asked to sit down in one hall and ... wait for the tea and cookies. That is what I remember more or less.

The last stop today was the hotel and the temple Hojo-in where I do not remember anymore the temple and whether we visited it or not but very much the hotel we stayed at. On our way there we stopped once at Lawson store to get some snacks which turned into a big shopping madness. Mr Toru told us we do not have to spend our own money and bought us everything! I also saw there the „magazines for the adults“ and was laughing. I could not pick inside as all of them are packed in the plastic foils and unless you buy them it is not possible. I did it for the purpose of journalism of course.

Hojo-in hotel

The rain started again as we were leaving with our bags from the bus to this temple. It was night already but the place looked big. Unfortunately no time to go around it even in the morning but the hotel and the temple had an enclosed yard with nice garden and rocks lying around. Oh, I forgot to mention that at all the Japanese temples have rocks lying around the yard but always somehow balanced. I believe they represent something with the energy and energy points forming some balance in the nature and among the architecture.

At the entrance of the house we had to leave the shoes again and put them into the wooden racks on each side of the racks. Then we got the number of the room...or just headed to any room we found. I was in the room with one of my best friends there – Ugur from Turkey. Now the hotel was pretty interesting, the whole compley actually. One half of this huge building had about 3 floors in total with many „hidden“ hallways that were like a labyrinth. There was one space where one could sit on the sofa and even catch wi-fi signal when lucky. We were walking with our smartphones in the air trying to catch the signal like the scene from the Lions King, haha.

The rooms here were of course traditional and the „locals“ (the priests) here were wearing their kimono I think the whole time we spent there. The walls of the rooms were pretty thin and you could hear the others several rooms away so talking here and secrets was not going to pass. There was a wardrobe with the doors that open to the left and right (and the doors of the room too) and had plenty of blankets. We had two mattresses on the floor and also a place to charge our electronics. There were large windows and we closed them both not wanting rain to get it. It proved to be a very smart decision that evening, as you are going to find out.

We had a dinner in a large hall on the first floor (next to the entrance) sitting in severalr ows on our knees on small pillows. I could not take it anymore and chose to sit in what we call in Croatia „sitting like  Turk“ posture with both legs crossed. We had now opportunity to eat Vegerian only meal as that was the practice at this temple. It was quiet delicious even without meat (I am a carnivore btw) and we did not feel hungry. Again a bit of everything on the plate. There was one problematic part that was impossible to stay still when using the chopsticks, something white that looked like a pudding, and always fell down in the bowl. It took me 5 minutes before it stopped falling.

We thanked the hosts for dinner and then had country presentations. One had to be careful not to lay with their back on the wall behind because it would get damaged easily. Another potential „danger“ and a problem were the doors to this large room or hall as some of us were much taller and could get hit in the head like Gandalf in Bag End.

We had now about 2 hours of free time before going to sleep and it was not boring indeed. What should I mention first? Let me see...getting lost around the building and discovering large halls in the basement (in the dark!), hunting down and running away from the spiders of a size of a tennis ball, going for the shower for the first time in the „public“ baths with other guys naked...

After roaming around with friends and checking every floor and the floors (and since there were very few other guests besides us it was pretty spooky to go walk around alone) we found those baths and probably the strangest toilets I have ever encountered. There were two doors – one for men and for women...but then instead of having a wall between each other the toilet in the middle (khm, for „the big need“) was shared by both! You could literally pass through the men's restroom into women's just by going through that cabin in the middle, insane! haha There was also a room with sinks where one could shave or brush teeth in peace. I did it, being alone on the whole floor waiting for the monsters to attack me. And right now remembered another toilet non of us did not want to use. The place where you are supposed to sit while peeing or the other thing ... was just a hole in the floor! I was wondering how that was even possible to do without falling on your back and rolling around. And there were sveral holes (or let's say these „sophisticated toielts“ ) in the row meaning you could have been with the others. No privacy, no toilet paper and no toilet bowl. Never iagined that. There was a pretty normal and modern restroom on our floor of course. But that downstairs is like walking through some museum.

Then my roommate and I decided to go in the last 15 minutes before its closing to the shower room as we thought „We are going to have to do this within few days at this Inunakiyama Onsen so maybe try it now when there is not many people around to break the ice.“. So we did there and it was first strange but once you stop caring nothing abnormal. We spent 5 minutes there and one of the campers was also there I believe (but could not recognize him without glasses) who asked us „hey guys, what are you laughing about?“ but he could not understand it from our point of view.

The last thing to mention were the hueg spiders that scared the *thing* out of everyone. You remember me mentioning it was a wise decision to close the windows in our room? Well, the others did not do it.

What happened and how we survived it (and if we did) coming soon.

Plans for the other day

There was an ascetic practice in the morning for the brave ones who wanted to wake up around 6am. I was sleeping. Then we went more to the south to famous Shirahama and spent the day at the Shiraham White beach, were supposed to watch the fireworks and have a karaoke evening in the hotel.

Thanks for reading.

Photo credits go to the Lions Camp Osaka counselors and the campers (Jesse Tucek).

[silversnaffles]

Sooo I was tagged by @tenderloveandcanter to do this what’s in my grooming kit challenge thing (thanks for remembering me FoR ONcE, jk ily) and it’s just made realise I really need clean out my grooming kit more often lol

ANYWAY, photo 1) the two grooming kits! I do also have a bucket of spare brushes that are all pretty much older than me, but these are the ones we use. The black bag is technically my mum’s grooming kit but I use it as she has nicer brushes than me and robbed things from my grooming kit anyway lol

Photo 2) my grooming kit! I have loads of dirty baby wipes left over from last year when I’d end up covered in hoof oil or when I’d wipe some dust off the mares. I really need to throw them away whoops. We also have Amber’s eye drops from when she had an eye infection and one of those rubber things from a martingale despite me not owning one. The brushes are all pretty old but do the job. The brown mitt is so great btw, makes the ponies v shiny. And the purple hoof pick came free in a magazine 👌🏻

Photo 3: so many scissors??? And some throat sweets?? Also so many mane combs?? And see that little white chalk thing? I spent like £4 on that and it’s not even that good ugh. At least my pink plaiting bands were worth every penny 👌🏻 Oh and that wooden wipey thing? Well, it’s like those shedding tools that are like £20 except this was a £2 builder’s version haha Also we have my lifesaver that’s my NAF mane and tail conditioner 🙌🏻 There’s also some out of date sun block for Merlin’s nose that we really need to replace before summer

edit: just remembered the electric fence hook that's also in that grooming kit for some reason lol

So that’s that then?? Hopefully getting a new grooming kit for myself this summer. I’d love an eqclusive dark horse set 😍😍😍 but also beggars can’t be choosers so idk what I’ll end up with lol

Anyway, I tag @equinecrazy @scotchy-mist and @equus-swift (sorry if any of you guys have already been tagged💕)

[pharaohsparklefists]

HELLO AND WELCOME TO ANOTHER THRILLING EPISODE OF:

aka Episode 95, part 2 of 3 (part 1 is here)!

Isis is recounting the time she took Malik out for an icecream once and destroyed her whole family. #oops

It started well...

Good to know the Ishtars have an actual normal way in and out of the cult-dungeon and don’t have to climb up and down the well that Pegasus et al broke in via! 

Malik gets his first ever taste of the sun...

Can you imagine how intense the Egyptian sun would be, having never seen anything brighter than candlelight? Although possibly Malik has seen sunlight coming through the well, since the moon is definitely visible from it.

Isis takes him to a town which must be really very close by. If Isis and other women from the clan do come here, which they must, I wonder if they’re noticed, the way, say, a semi-secret group of Amish people would be in a village market. Old-fashioned simple dress, archaic language, buying in bulk and leaving in a direction where there’s supposed to be nothing but ruins?

Despite this being the smallest and crappest market in northern Africa, Malik is OVERSTIMULATED and I guess we’re all just lucky she didn’t bring him to a mall. 

what now they’re fucking fairies or something? ~“of this world”~ This is your local supermarket, for all intents and purposes, and you’ve obviously been here before. But even though Isis is probably allowed to come here, she’s obviously been taught to think of herself as totally separate from these people.

But the first thing Malik does touch ~of this world~ isn’t anything flashy, it’s a magazine someone dropped...

Malik shows an admirable librarian-like quality!

And he’a absolutely fascinated by the I-have-to-presume photos in the magazine. They could be drawings. Because they ARE drawings. It’s functionally impossible for me to tell what’s supposed to be an anime-style drawing and what’s supposed to be a photograph IN an anime, except by context, and either a semi-realistic drawing OR a photograph would look “so real” next to, y’know,

Malik is enchanted by a photo (drawing?) of a man riding a motorbike, and then happens to see a different (the same??) man riding a motorbike on a live action (animated???) television program

Isis hurries him away when she realises the man at the stall with the TV is surprised that Malik is so awestruck by seeing a TV. She obviously doesn’t want him to guess that Malik has never been outside before. It’s unclear whether she knows about child protective services or not but definitely they will all be in some trouble if CPS ever found the child-torture-isolation-dungeon aka home.

She DOES know about motorbikes and TVs and stuff though! Malik asks and she tells him exactly what they all are. It’s so fascinating to me that she’s having clearly such a very different life to him, and they’re so close but she’s obviously never told him about any of these things. I imagine the women are more permissive, especially over ground, but have impressed on Isis that she mustn’t tell Malik of these things, especially when he was young. If Malik let slip something about televisions to his father, they would probably all be in trouble.

Malik’s excitement dissipates as he realises, even if he lives a long life...

And Isis stops dead

She was trying so hard to make Malik happy, to give him his wish while still protecting him from their father, and this is where she realises that maybe Malik not knowing what he’s missing was better. Now that he knows, now that he’s stood in sunshine and had a taste of possibilities, how can he ever be happy underground? He’s only 12, and she’s only 16. 

She swallows it all and puts on a smile for him.

Trying to ease the blow that they have to return so soon. She made him promise they would only be gone an hour, I think the town must be more than 20 minutes walk away.

And just all she wants is for him to be happy!

He does have amazingly effective puppy-dog eyes though... They’re both so cute! And they really ask for so little! He doesn’t even ask to keep the whole magazine - a whOLE MAGAZINE, like that would be such an outrageous demand for a 12 year old. He just wants one little reminder of the only hour of his life he didn’t spend in darkness.

And then. THIS asshole. Shows up. Just fuckin teleports right into their path so Isis almost runs right into him.

Isis, being one of the smartest people on this show, is immediately almost aggressively suspicious of This Asshole.

This Asshole tells them, nbd, their inevitable future is awash with “bloodshed and tragedy” and, oh, btw,

THIS IS JUST A LIE. HE’S JUST STARTING SHIT FOR NO GOOD REASON. YOU KNOW WHAT HE WANTS?? HE WANTS ISIS AND MALIK TO TAKE UP THE MILLENNIUM ITEMS AND GO FIND YUGI MUTOU SO THEY CAN GIVE THEIR ITEMS TO HIM AND ALSO SOME TRADING CARDS. YOU KNOW WHAT HE COULD HAVE SAID INSTEAD OF THIS?? 

“oh hi kids, don’t be alarmed or murder anyone, I’d just like to let you know your Long Foretold Destiny is here, the Pharaoh’s soul is kickin around Japan (for some reason), so it’d be just super swell if you two would inherit the mystical artifacts your family has been guarding for millennia for Just This Occasion! and pop over there to drop them off with a Mr Yugi Mutou of the Kame Game Shop, central Domino City, Japan, I’ll write down the address for you, oh, and be sure to look up a Mr Pegasus on your way, he has some trading cards you should tuck into that little Pharaoh Care Package too! hey, y’know what, I’ll walk you home to explain all this to your dad too in case he doesn’t believe you!”

or even a like

“The Great Pharaoh’s soul once more walks the Earth. Your ancient promise must soon be fulfilled. Seek the Pharaoh.”

that would probably have worked, they’re good kids. And smart. They could have stolen the Items from the shitty desk tidy and run away to Japan all together: Malik and Isis both separately found the Pharaoh, so together they definitely could have, and probably sooner!

INSTEAD:

yep that’ll probably work.

Isis insists they return home, and Malik asks for one more thing

(vrum vrum)

One moment longer in the sunshine to imagine his new wish, which he currently accepts will never come to pass:

a highly safety-conscious motorbike ride.

But when they re-enter the child-torture-dungeon, they notice something they missed on the way out...

It’s some contraption attached to the door, which Isis says she didn’t notice in the darkness as they were leaving. She must never have been out without an older relative before, and didn’t realise there was a rudimentary alarm. She immediately guesses what’s happened but it isn’t until they see Malik’s room has been trashed that Malik figures it out, and by the time they reach Rishid...

#just-child-torture-dungeon-things

And that’s where things start to slip out of Malik’s control, because with Rishid unconscious...

This mini-murderer is free to take over. That’s him CATCHING THE END OF THE WHIP BEFORE IT STRIKES HIM, btw.

One of Mr Ishtars hopefully many regrets will be that he decided to whip Rishid to unconsciousness in this particular room, because it makes it far too easy for Yami baby!Malik to claim the Rod.

And he isn’t shy about using it, pinning first his father

and then his sister to the walls.

And just straight up stabbing Mr Ishtar to death with the pointy interior of the Rod, which, you know, was a bit of a weird design choice to begin with. You really have to Work to murder anyone with any of the other Items...

(AU where Malik instead strangles Mr Ishtar with the Necklace and during Battle City Malik knows the future and Isis controls people’s minds)

He’s about to turn on Isis too, thinking Rishid dead already, but that’s when Rishid wakes up (above, pictured, Yami baby!Malik’s surprised face) and as soon as their eyes meet, Original Flavour baby!Malik resurfaces, with no memory of what just happened.

Rishid tries to protect him (this is so touching, look at Malik’s little hand on Rishid’s chest </3) but Malik sees...

He’s surprisingly upset for someone whose father, y’know, tortured him, kept him trapped underground, almost beat his brother to death, probably more than once, completely overlooks his sister, throws candles at people, etc etc. But that’s not uncommon in children who’ve been abused by their parents.

Oh yeah, and just in case the TRAUMATISED CHILDREN aren’t fucking traumatised enough...

THIS ASSHOLE

Was he POSSESSING him?? He comes right out of Mr Ishtar?? Did Shadi go tell those kids death is their future and then pop home before them to ORCHESTRATE THE DEATH?? Like Mr Abusivshtar is definitely capable of beating Rishid to within an inch of his life, Asshole possession or no, but like, why is Shadi coming out of him if he wasn’t In him??

NO IT FUCKING WASN’T YOU’RE LITERALLY THE WORST GO GET CAUGHT IN A VACUUM CLEANER YOU SPITEFUL ETHEREAL RUINER

[timespacehigurashi]

It’s done! I’ve read every single issue with Harley and Joker in it. Now, an article: Comics: Harley, Joker and abuse 2.0 *improved*

Friend: T_T Everybody on internet says I’m sick because I ship JxHQ

me: Let me explain the mess : ) book by book >.<

what’s mainstream and continuity? click here

If you want to know what N52 is click here

Friend: Why are people always talking about Snyder’s Joker or Morrison’s, etc?

Me: DC made it sure that the sacred continuity of the mainstream was kept, each writer had to work based on what his predecessors wrote but writers had different interpretations of the character so the characterization was different.

So sometimes we have an absolutely violent Joker, sometimes He’s a smart guy who tries to seem dumb or a man so crazy that couldn’t avoid the police.

Why Am I explaining this? because you have to understand that Joker at the time Harley was introduced in comic world was extremely violent and sadist. He spent the half of his time killing his own men. He wasn’t the character we knew in the tv show. Comic world is more raw, crude and bloody. Of course Harley changes her personality many times it depends on who wrote it.

Harley was written like Joker’s girlfriend in the series, now if you’re not familiar with batman comics that’s the most logic development but otherwise you understand that was a bold move cause Joker existed during 50 years before someone gave him a girlfriend but even more, he didn’t have a brother, a father, sons or a sidekick, nothing at all* and today someway we have big pictures of him kissing a girl and people pay for them LOL.

Harley was a new phase for Joker as a character cause she gives to him humanity what is good or bad, good if you want a more complete character, bad if you’re trying to use the cruelest, the grosser and the most important batman’s enemy to be creepy.

Batman - Harley Quinn (august, 1999. by Paul Dini): The canon origin for Harley in the mainstream (Mad love is from tv/ Batman the animated series continuity). They didn’t use the thing of abuse, no, they had an idea to keep it weird and dysfunctional: He tries to kill her and they had a twisted reason, It’s cause he loves her alike but different entirely to abuse. This was the strategy of the comics and was reflected everywhere

Comic Harley Quinn (2000-2004), comic Batman adventures (Tv continuity), comic batman, etc at least until 2007 BUT we have a couple of exceptions.

This picture by Guillen March (many batman comics) is a good brief of that tendency:

Mainstream:

-The code: Batman #570 (oct, 1999. part 1), Detective comics #737 (oct, 1999. part 2). This is what I was talking about batman and detective comics are combined though the numbers aren’t corresponding. It’s because the magazine detective comics began first. The story called “the code” was one of the most tender, funny stories. No trace of abuse.

Joker: It’s ok to call me Puddin’.

Some pages here

-Legends of the dark knight #126, detective comics #740 (both feb. 2000) by Gregg Rucka: you have to read them combined.  I think this was the most abusive you can find in comics and the next one of course. There isn’t anything implied you can see it and its very bad. Please notice the date, it was written almost at the same time that the fluffy “the code”

-Batman #573, shadow of the bat #93 (both jan, 2000) by Gregg Rucka: The majority of the images really showing abuse are from this one and the former.

Why the difference? The writers, whenever Gregg Rucka is the author Joker is abusive cause Rucka uses Harley like a sidekick no really his girlfriend and this writer’s Joker is every second shooting someone. BTW Rucka has said he didn’t like Joker and he wanted to kill him but DC didn’t let him.

Wait…what about “suicide squad”? Just now we aren’t talking about N52 universe (since 2011). Maybe you don’t know what’s that so we’ll cover it later.

-Harley Quinn (2000-2004 and Linked to Mainstream): They used the matter or Joker trying to kill her, no real abuse here and she tries to kill him too as revenge. This comic is important because after many of its ideas were applied in other comics (specially N52). In fact they created a development of character where she reached a kind of equality with Joker, maybe the first time they used a development of the subject in the world of comics but there wasn’t abuse.

well…in the episode 1 he hit her and kicked her but a)- This Harley is so strong could carry him in arms :S  and she did so :D b)- She threw him into a big neon sign for doing so.

After a second writer in HQ made up one of my favorite JokerHarley stories, and very funny. pages here.

-Batman adventures/Gotham adventures (1992-2004): The comic is directly linked to the cartoon, there’s not abuse at all they usually show their relationship as something funny and cute but they made some references after 1999 that I want to explain.

Gotham adventures #10 (march, 1999) and #14: One of my favorites stories because it was hilarious but shows a twisted but sweet relationship. They fight each other but writers tried to make it in both ways =_= yes, that was their solution

Curiously she didn’t mention that time he threw her through a window so no reference to mad love but the strange answer of Joker is a reference to the origin in the mainstream because if he wanted to kill her that was a sign he loved her O_O  Whatever, at the end she forgave him, just the reader could see he missed her but he wrote this on a photo.

“Harley baby, love you forever.” Link to see the picture

As result “Batman Adventures” is a continuity with the storyline of the TV show but without Mad Love.

A proof supports this opinion is “Harley Quinn and Batman #1″ (July, 2017) by Templeton, main writer in Adventures, the comic is new but with this panel here the writer was reminding us the state of the things in Adventures.

-The Joker - last laugh (oct, 2001): special, limited series. Joker thought he was going to die. Very cute story in that regard. here The last laugh

-Gotham Girls (dec. 2002): Special limited series 5 issues, really good but coming to business, at first glance it seems (because of the design and story) it happened in the continuity of Batman Adventures but there’s a trick. Gotham Girls wasn’t created as another chapter in Batman Adventures, but it is a comic sequel/adaptation of a series of animated shorts written by Paul Dini with the same name.

The series by Dini didn’t have references to Mad Love but the adaptation by Paul Storrie did have them.

The vol 3. shows harley’s story as in Mad Love, abuse included, they used some panels extracted from there.

-Harley and Ivy (2004): No real references. Limited series by Paul Dini

-Batman confidential (2007): Madmen and Lovers: Confidential has its own continuity and my favorite origin story, just fluff here.

https://timespacehigurashi.tumblr.com/post/126947551376/batman-confidential-episode-7-joker-and-harley

Mainstream:

-batman 663 (mar, 2007) by Grant Morrison: his style is absolutely different and he did a strange mess but his Joker wasn’t abusive, he was totally crazy and murderous, I meant MORE, and Harley worshipped him almost literally o.O but here they said clearly “he cared about her” and at the same time harley shot him down xD.

If you want to know more about Batman #663 here. It’s a comparison with its variant in N52 but just read the 663 part to get what happened.

-Detective comics 831 “kind of like family” (Dini, jun, 2007): Good story, no real mention of abuse, no exactly…but here Harley had made her mind about don’t be involved with him again and was reformed. A new character, the second ventriloquist, appeared and she is supposed to have a bad relationship with scarface that is her other personality…It doesn’t make sense…forget it. It’s a long talk and Dini himself “erased” it with his next work.

If you don’t read comics skip this (About Dini, Morrison and logic):

In first place this episode is dated jun, 2007 and 663 (Morrison’s) was in march, it’s confusing because the last time we saw Harley (2004 ending of “Harley Quinn”) she was in arkham and paul dini began from there writing a story about her getting out of Arkham and reformed (”kind of family” in June) BUT Morrison used the character BEFORE, in March and in Morrison’s she’s far away from sanity just a couple months of difference :-/ (*cough* continuity staggering *cough*)

It’s more or less that Dini ignored Morrison xD Well, in the continuity after a while when we saw Joker again he was his normal himself like nothing occurred (his face wasn’t damaged like It was in batman # 663) so everybody ignored Morrison and then DC tried to explain it saying what was writen after #663 corresponds to BEFORE in the time xDD (If somebody thinks I’m wrong expose it to me please.)  and BTW It’s impossible since a reference was made about this chapter (663) in Gotham sirens (2009), in other words Batman #663 by Morrison can’t be the future cause Gotham Sirens calles it the past.

-Detective comic 837 (Dini. oct. 2007): she’s living adventures, no comments

Then the order in the general story for Harley according to the mainstream is this:

-Gotham sirens (2009-2011) by Paul Dini (just first 11 issues minus the #8): In sirens this is a weird topic and long to explain. There’s one reference, a comment of P.I and selina, chapter 1.

selina :“he’ll be calling for your money the second he hears about it”

Ivy: “then you’ll be skipping out the door for another round of abuse, humiliation and regret”

This is a reference to the dynamic in “Harley and Ivy” the episode in the tv show where joker took adventage of her for her money, one could think when they said abuse, they were talking about brutality like mad love but it results that Dini likes to use “abuse” meaning distinct things in distinct works. o.O

In Sirens by Dini “abuse” is not what appeared in Mad Love but something slighter… more like He’s a jerk kind of thing.

Understanding this is a little difficult if you don’t follow Dini’s work but Sirens itself helps you providing some context

The ending of the chapter 6 is a second reference to “Harley and Ivy”. Both, the ending of the episode and the comic handled the matter lightly, treating it with humor,

In the original episode Harley isn’t an beaten wife but  the object of her love is inconsiderate and he wanted to steal her money too. Ivy called her a doormat.

So Selina and Ivy meant he takes advantage of her, however Sirens established Joker does care about her at the same time, in the chapter 5 Ivy said this:

Chapter 2 showed this one  here.

More context: Dini made up a background for Harley’s family was never written before. While Mad Love was tragic and the story of the downfall of a girl who would have been somebody Sirens is optimistic. Her family was so a disaster  that she’s happy with her new life and identity. It isn’t dark, they’re just disagreeable people.

Harley has daddy issues, no, seriously! Her father is …Joker.

Her father is a swindler who takes advantage of women and get their money :O So Harley is used to deal with liers on a daily basis and her family’s used to have relatives in jail. here

The writer is trying to compare her father with Joker, and her old life with her new criminal identity, saying “It isn’t so bad”. From Harley’s point of view at least Joker is a man of one woman and he doesn’t have kids from several mothers like Harley’s brother. For Dini usually the little domestic sins like infidelity are the worst.

Again another writer that is very different wrote the last arc of Sirens though sometimes wrongly attribuited to Dini. His story it’s darker and ignored the previous chapters, this time Ivy changed lines and said “he doesn’t love you” (chapter 24). Harley said “after all the abuse, betrayal and dirty tricks” (chapter 19) but they keep comparing harley/joker to Selina/batman and being kind of romantic. So what was that? : / What we saw after wasn’t an abusive relationship (He even called her Ms. Q once), they were a team but they were together doing horrible things, I mean, the guy was very nice and all but he was stabbing  orderlies. Here the reason Harley must not be with him is simpler, cause he does evil things :O

Some pages here here

And then again the weirdest twist in the final 2 chapters (2011) Ivy explained how Harley is very sick and they carried her obsession to proportions weren’t seen since her origin in 1999…ok, maybe Morrison’s Harley in 2007 maybe not.

Extra but canon too :-/

-Countdown to Final crisis (Dini, 2007-2008): Ultra crossover and a temporary event that stopped the normal progress of the continuity for a long while, maybe my least favorite story by Paul Dini (he was the main writer, like a director). Here…well…Harley became an amazon (you know, like wonderwoman. XP -_- ) because…she was reformed…no abuse here or signs of it are mentioned. (If you know of something just say it).

-Crossovers/several universes: Usually just fluffy things I haven’t found some abusive story in them but yes, there’re a one or two really creepy. Interestingly I don’t know about any universe where Harley is a boy but Joker was a girl 2 or 3 times O.o and always in love with another version of Harley…I guess AUs are fanservice XP.

-Batman Strikes! (2005): Linked to the cartoon “The Batman”, fluffy and cartoonish.

Well, that was PRE-N52…

Game based comic weren’t included cause those have their own continuity that isn’t accurate in regard to the games and the relationship is different between one and another

conclusion

Because of the amount of writers the relationship is never exactly the same and in the majority of the cases isn’t abusive besides being realistic one writer could have written the characters and their relationship different in different occasions  (that’s why you can find interviews where they say it’s abusive and he doesn’t care for her and then another where they say how much he loves her) and It’s not really possible put together all what was written and saying it’s the same character always (Joker changes and Harley too) sooo that’s why you don’t hate women if you ship it, thanks. :D

My God, I think I’ve read every single issue with harley and Joker but who knows there’re so many. @_.@

Perhaps I’ll write another article for N52, We’ll see.

If you have a question, just ask.

Although this is an article about Harley’s origin in N52 comparing it with Mad Love.

https://timespacehigurashi.tumblr.com/post/136218691876/harley-quinns-origin-in-n52