#where did my ukulele go

[tardigrade-skeb]

We got powdered donuts yuri before gta6 😭

This is kinda 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂 sorry… I won’t do it again

Ranpoe Lesbians return!

[preserve-or-raze]

my tags got out of hand

i keep thinking about hobbies and how i often spill over myself to pick up new ones. i have adhd, i end up trying something for like a month and then just getting far enough in it that i move on, satisfied.

and that should be fine; but it's never fine.

i am a pretty decent artist; but i can't just make art for my dnd campaign, i should be selling dnd maps and character designs and scene setting pieces. i can't just make my friends matching earrings, i need to get an etsy and ship them internationally and take bulk orders. i make pretty good props and decorations and use them to throw my friends parties - but i should be running a party planning business and start taking paying clients and networking and putting my skills to actual use.

for some reason, i never figured out the specifics of pottery. it was a fun class and i enjoyed myself - and still, i'm embarrassed, years later, that i put in all that useless effort. everything i make has to be stunning. stellar. i should have applied myself more. maybe i'm too lazy. maybe i'm broken and selfish and needy. actually creative people would have kept going; they would be bettering themselves at every possible opportunity.

we find ourselves in this trap, even accidentally: we need to commodify our time, because it is a commodity. if we spend our efforts and our time not earning, isn't that the same thing as burning free money? and god forbid you ever take up a hobby that ends up being more expensive than you thought. you sit in your car and you look at the receipt and in your head you hear a conversation that isn't even happening - your mom or your friend or your partner all saying oh great. not this shit again. it's always something with you, and it never actually means anything.

i have realized this horrible thing, recently - i'll get excited to start a project, pick up a new hobby. and then i just... stop myself. i start thinking about the amount of time it will take, and how it'll look in my monthly budget. what if i can't even produce a good enough final product. sure, it's exciting to think about how i could make my friend her own custom dice. but i'm just polluting the earth if i don't get it right. better not bother. better not try.

restless, i get caught in the negative space. the feeling that oh god, i want to create. and that horrible sense - yeah, but i don't have the time to just put to waste.

[copperbadge]

Last night I decided it was time for some good ol' fashioned Danish antidepressants: A LEGO KIT.

[ID: Two photos taken from the head of the bed; in the first, my cats are visible loafing near the foot, beyond a lap tray with lego bricks on it. In the second image, Dearborn the tortie stares at the camera while I show off the start of the build in the foreground.]

Normally I'd sit at the dining table for this, but Dearborn has begun to get antsy in the evenings because she and I tend to hang out in the living room while Polk won't leave the bed (I leave the heated pad on during the day for them) and Dearborn doesn't like it when the whole clowder isn't together. So, I've taken to doing evening projects on the bed, if I can.

[ID: Three images of the build in progress; the first shows a strange-looking elongated piece, brown at one end and blue at the other with a circular black area in the middle. The second image shows this piece plus two sinuously curving blue pieces made of multiple lego bricks. The third image shows the curving pieces snapped onto the long piece to form a ukulele, with the circular black area representing the central hole in the sound board.]

This is the Tropical Ukulele 3-in-1 kit, where you can build a ukulele but the same bricks will build a little dolphin or a surfboard if you prefer. I really like how it came together -- you build the sound board and neck first, then stick the curved edges of the body on. The result is that it looks like random shapes until you snap the body on, and then it looks like a ukulele very suddenly, which is extremely satisfying.

Polk did some quality testing.

[ID: A photograph of Polk the tabby, who has become interested in the build and is sniffing the "head" of the ukulele where the tuning pegs are sticking out, her ears slightly awry.]

It's very pretty, and the instrument has a nice weight to it; it also feels like maybe lego has done some reworking to make their bricks slightly more snug when snapped together, because it feels like it held together more securely than the typewriter I built a few years ago. I also got to build flowers for the first time, which are something Lego is offering more and more frequently. They're fiddly as hell to build but the end effect is great.

And I love that the head is slightly hinged -- the "strings" go on very loosely, and they're flexible so they were kind of bent all over, but then you tilt the head back slightly and they go taut and stay that way.

Overall very satisfying build and lovely final product, 11/10 would strum if I could.

[ID: The finished product, resting on my lap desk on the bed; a light blue ukulele with silver "strings" sits securely on a curving base. In front of it are two large colorful tropical lego flowers; there is also a third flower attached to the ukulele at the base of the neck.]

[essentiallyleaf]

day 14. underwater sex. with. kim chaeyeon.

1164 words.

tags.

kinktober ‘23, idol x male reader, girlfriend chaeyeon, life is hard, sometimes i want to escape, underwater sex, a little jealousy, semi-public sex, breeding, do i use periods too much?, i’m writer, so if you find any bad takes in here, i blame the characters (and one of them is you, so who’s really at fault here?), terrible pacing, zero setup, just a bunch of fluff followed by some smut.

notes.

tararì tararà. inspiredly, leaf.

That sea blue van would be your home for the summer. You bought it second-hand after you got out of high school, painted it the least bland color you could find, packed it with your stuff and started driving. “Your stuff” included, in no particular order: a big boombox, an empty backpack, two plastic leis, a portable stove, a skateboard, a panda onesie and a giraffe onesie, a Rubik’s cube, a ukulele, Luffy’s straw hat, a My Melody trousse and an array of colorful carpets and blankets. (Oh, and all those “you”’s stand for youse, of course. Isn’t this language a peculiar one, where it’s all you’s, whether they come in ones or twos?)

You like Europe, Chaeyeon likes the sea. Sounds like a perfect match. She loves standing with her head and upper torso out of the window on the rooftop, and opening her arms wide, the feeling of the wind between her hair, on her face. It’s fast and it’s present, it’s right now. You love to just turn The Japanese House up when she does that, and watch the sun set, or rise, or just stay up at its zenith, or rest from its hard work while the stars embellish the night sky like shiny little white gems on deep blue velvet. You obviously can’t see her face from the driver’s seat, but you can picture it exactly in your mind, and it’s beautiful.

There was no set route, no bulleted list with places to visit, every night you went to bed not knowing where you’d head the next day. Just drove on seaside roads for hours until you found a nice spot, then parked the van, set up on the beach, and spent the day there. Reading coming-of-age books, playing go, debating Miyazaki (Ghibli Miyazaki, not From Miyazaki; you like the magic of Spirited Away, she likes the rawness of Grave of the Fireflies, she says as far as stories go, you can never beat humanity; for the other one, you both agree it’s Bloodborne and it’s not even close).

One day in early July, you were somewhere between Alicante and Cartagena, the midday sun was hot but still bearable (they say the low humidity helps), the beach fairly empty. You went to the kiosk to get Chaeyeon an orangeade, the girl behind you in line said hi with a courteous smile and started talking to you about vegan sunscreen. When you got back and gave her the drink, she said she wasn’t thirsty anymore.

“Did something happen?”

“I don’t know, you tell me,” she answered while pouting.

“What’s this all about? Did I do something wrong?” You asked, confused.

“Nah, you probably did everything right, I mean, that pretty girl looked so over the moon as you were hitting on her.” A veil of jealousy coated her face.

“Hitting on her? Chae, that girl is as pretty as she’s uninteresting, you have no idea”

“Yeah?” She tried to hide her legitimate curiosity.

“I asked her what drew her to Spain and she was like, ‘I heard you can get really good tans’” Chaeyeon snorted. Not exactly your type.

You made aglio e olio pasta on the portable stove for lunch; your mom always used to put a little anchovy paste in it even though you didn’t like it, it was one of the many silly reasons why you thought you hated her in your early teens, now it’s somehow become a fond memory of her. After a couple hours of fairly silent crosswords and solitaires lying down in her blue one-piece swimsuit, you asked her:

“Wanna put our feet in the water?”

“M'kay. Not too long though, I gotta finish this sudoku”

Feet became knees became hips, and in two minutes flat the two of you were twenty-five meters away from shore, the water at the level of your nipples, which is the level of her chin. Not that you expected anything different, she loves the sea like that, she just can’t help it. You hugged and kissed her and one of your fingers found itself under the strap of her swimsuit.

“W-What are you doing?” She giggled, startled and excited.

“Sh-shh, no one can see us”

“You are such a horny dork”

The strap came off, the other followed soon after. As you pushed the top part of her one-piece below her boobs to fondle them, her laughs only made space for soft moans. One of your hands reached lower for her core, first above the blue fabric, then pushing it aside and starting to massage her lower lips. She mewled in your mouth as your thumb circled around her clit.

“Can you do this for me, baby?”

“Mmh-what?”

“Turn around”

You rotated her hips as she was now also facing the shore, only a few people in the water, none at close, or even moderate distance. You helped her bend over slightly, one hand at her shoulder, one around her waist as support. Her hands lowered your swim trunks and stroked your erection a couple times before guiding it to her slit.

“Can I?” you asked.

“Yeah, just fucking, don’t make it obvious”

“You should be the one worrying about that,” you teased as you pushed yourself in.

She whimpered at your penetration, the water simultaneously making the surfaces feel more slippery and the space in between them feel more stuffy. It was quite a different sensation, but certainly no less pleasing. As soon as you bottomed out in her, you pulled your hips back and immediately hit her ass with your pelvis again in a quick motion (she couldn’t contain a high-pitched whine, which fortunately didn’t overpower the sound of the waves building up and crashing onto the sand). Rinse and repeat.

Your palms quickly found themselves on her irresistible tits again as she looked for support with her hands behind your lower back and on your asscheeks. Seeing the two of you in that state surely wouldn’t have been flattering, but fortunately no one did. So you could continue to pound Chaeyeon’s pussy from behind as you groped her beautiful, soft mounds, stimulating her nipples with your fingers. Her moans getting louder and louder told you everything you needed to know.

“Where do you want it?”

“Fuh- Don’t waste it”

At those exact words, you emptied yourself deep in her, the walls around you tightening repeatedly as she hit her own orgasm. You wrapped your arms all around her as you gradually slowed your movements down, making sure her legs wouldn’t give up on her now.

“Can you piggyback me back there?”

“Not even pull your swimsuit back up? Such a slut, for real”

“Oh, I’m the slut? What about the guy who flirts with any vegan tan girl he sees?”

You stayed silent as pushed two fingers in her slit and gathered some of your cum before bringing them to her lips and letting her lick them clean.

“None of them get this”

-

footnotes.

feeling like driving now. peacefully, leaf.

[just-your-average-author]

TIT RECAP/THOUGHTS

SPOILERS OBV

Okay so firstly the open PSA that Dan wrote about "no photos or videos if you do, I will sue your ass to the ground" and "no flash photography do you want Phil to fall off the stage...again?!?!?" killed me. it was so cute

preshow playlist, stunning, beautiful all around bops.

the sudden cut off of the music and lights to signal the show started, genuinely shocked and I was SAT let me tell you.

THEY CAME OUT AND THEY WERE REAL?!? NOT A SIMULATION?? listen I still can't get over that, I can't believe they were real people who look and sound exactly like they do on my tv at home!! I was so focused on them and soaking every moment in, I couldn't handle it

have I mentioned how attractive they are?!?!?

okay also literally Phil straight up STOPPED THE SHOW BECAUSE HE HAD TO SNEEZE AND DAN JUST STARED AND WAS LIKE PHIL WTF and I loved every second I was like yes this is straight up what they do in videos, let's have our little squirrel moment babes.

plus it made it feel even more silly and improv, overall I know obv they scripted a lot but it was sooo interactive and they ad libbed so much and I adored it

the dollhouse recap i swear wtf. first off, it was such a creative and fun idea and the different sets, and dressed up dolls that the clothes matched!! also okay I'm so sorry I had no idea the random sex positions would be a theme of the show so I was gobsmacked, but the 69ing during pinof??? "so we did what 2 closeted twinks did upon meeting each other for the first time.... put sharpie's cat whiskers on!!!" shut up for the love.

I genuinely loved the role model or no-el model segment. my show was in NC so they first option for Dan as the Mr. Lawyer was he bans ___ and someone said south carolina and they both just were rendered speechless and were like damn oh dear but laughing too.

The boxing match was so hot dear heavens, Dan's expression when Phil came out in the fake- *cough* I mean very real abs. He was acting for his LIFE.

the confessions were so good, just wish it lasted a little longer. the yapping was good and also idk if this was standardized but the whole thing where Phil said "I have a cute but also sociopathic thing going on and I think it's working for me 😌" like shut up you're so adorable

omg the quick change where they kept their mics on and narrated so many innuendos I was dying omg so silly and so funny I loved it. I was really impressed with how fast they changed, but also talked the whole time.

I loved every single solitary part of this show and I loved how they joked about how they were sorry we all went to school with whiskers then got out in the trash (cause yeah basically) and how they literally did raise us and should be blamed for us being feral not our actual legal guardians.

okay so. this show 9/10. here's where the last 1 point went.

please don't kill me, but I wasn't a fan of the song. I'm not entirely sure what it was, but the whole show was so raw and perfect and then the song was just really synthetic and overly autotuned where I personally didn't even hear their voices. like I couldn't tell who was singing which part. the ukulele part was cute, and I really hoped that would've been all of it, I guess the internet is here and interactive introverts and everything's fine just was so good you couldn't raise the bar again, but that was just my personal opinion, I know a lot of people loved the song and it was catchy and cute, I'm just not personally a fan of kpop/synthesized music so I was a little disappointed in the song but the dancing slapped so hard.

Dan flawlessly executing every move and strut and making eye contact with us while Phil very intentionally was focused on not tripping or walking off the stage and looking at Dan a few times to check if he was doing it right MY HEART.

cuties, gay, both of them, love them

overall I spent last night frantically calculating if I could afford to spontaneously go see the Nashville show as well and spend another 10 hours in the car today but regretfully thought against it.

[wickmitz]

you know rereading the comic got me thinking and i feel ur the best person for this. im very intrigued by mitzi and asa's dynamic pre, during, AND post atlas. i really wish we saw more of what happened before atlas' passing bc mitzi herself said asa used to be so nice to her and i'm just like YO WHAT HAPPENED anyways hi hello love ur blog

hi! i’m flattered you love my blog! and even more so by the fact you think i’m the best person to go to for this question! i’ve briefly talked about mitzi and asa before when analyzing the lunch scene in my long analysis for mitzi’s and wick’s relationship, where i said this on the matter :

to touch upon asa’s treatment of mitzi, even from as early as the phone call we see that mitzi is forced to have a conversation with asa on his terms rather than her own terms. mitzi sets out with a clear goal in mind -- learning why asa sweet would attack the lackadaisy in the way that he did -- and she's repeatedly talked over and threatened, with her questions remaining unanswered. it’s very clear very quickly that asa doesn’t respect mitzi nor view her as someone worthy of his time like atlas was, and almost appears to approach her in a misogynistic manner. he demeans something as simple as her ukulele as a ‘teeny little guitar’ and acts as though mitzi’s tears would be bothersome to him, some sort of burden he’d be forced to deal with rather than a valid emotional response to threats, degradation, and the likes. while asa is by no means wrong with some of his observations, he’s certainly rude and uncaring with how he goes about it. when he tells mitzi that he’s here to suggest that she step down, because he so generously has her interests in mind, she doesn’t buy it ; once again bringing up last nights events, where asa willingly armed the pig farmers with the lackadaisy’s arsenal and sent them over her way without so much as a warning. asa dismisses this coldly, once again dodging any fault and claiming it was ‘happenstance’ and entirely mitzi’s own doing. even now, when he’s actively threatening her and making it clear they won’t stay friendly if she keeps trying to make it in this business, he still won’t fully admit to any sort of responsibility for the disastrous night he helped put her through. while this seems rather typical of asa given his disrespectful streak ( something even mordecai, as valued and as useful as he is, suffers because of ) it’s worth noting that this side of him is new to mitzi and not one she was at all expecting. she even says as much here, in heartstrings.

we also know that mitzi only met atlas due to her performing at the marigold speakeasy first, and it’s likely asa was rather present in her life due to his bond with her now husband. asa even admits that mitzi may be confused because they’ve ’managed a friendly coexistence for so long,’ once again hammering home this idea that up until this point, asa was indeed kind to mitzi, or at the very least cordial. but with atlas out of the picture and mitzi trying to take his position, suddenly asa is more than okay with getting her killed or taking all she has left -- even his plan is nothing short of apathetic and cold, an afterthought, expecting her to give up something important to her and only offering a one time offer to play at the marigold room ‘sometime’ with that ‘old band of hers.’ what’s important here is that mitzi is ruthlessly betrayed by a man who used to like her and is treated as a lesser thing due to his view that she’s too incompetent to run a rumrunning business. he also brings up atlas to, in mitzi’s eyes, ‘intimidate ( her ) into agreeing with him,’ and towards the end of the lunch, she looks particularly kicked and undoubtedly hurt. she leaves this meeting that could’ve stayed a phone call with a potential enemy made and with the world on her shoulders, now more determined than ever to be someone people like asa would be forced to respect. instead of being dissuaded, she’s been encouraged, and it’s not hard to realize why.

so, i suppose those are my very brief thoughts about them post atlas! but as for pre and during, i don’t think there was ever anything really there outside of peaceful coexistence. as atlas’s wife, mitzi garnered respect she probably never had before as a traveling musician! asa wouldn’t dare insult her or belittle her once she became atlas’s wife and probably felt no need to do so in the first place. especially since, after all, asa’s the reason atlas found mitzi at all, back when she played for the marigold room where i assume she was treated well enough given asa’s rather friendly mask. he’s a jokester! he’s well meaning and goofy, always smiling and his eyes permanently upturned looking due to the patterns on his face … mitzi wouldn’t ever really see the asa that many other people deal with, and even when comparing asa to her rather quiet and eeire husband, well, he’d still seem leagues impressionable by default. asa purposely acts like he’s approachable and harmless, and while mitzi definitely knew he wasn’t some angel, i do think she fell for that mask more than she’d like to admit.

how i’ve always viewed their relationship is that the very nature of it was dictated by atlas may simply existing and owning her. his mere interest in mitzi was something phenomenal, and by default, something people had to respect. asa sweet was kind to her because she likely didn’t linger in the marigold room for too long before atlas snatched her up. he’s then very cordial to her, probably armed with compliments and generous gestures of interest because she’s atlas’s wife and asa can respect that role wholeheartedly. it’s only when atlas is removed and mitzi begins putting her paws where they ‘don’t belong’ that asa seems to drop the ruse, because there’s no need to keep it up anymore. even though mitzi isn’t harming anyone and hasn’t tried to step on asa’s toes once, he still steals from her and puts her in danger without care -- not once burdened by any real guilt as he continues to threaten her when she doesn’t back down immediately. with how clinical the removal of affection is here ( because even mordecai hasn’t managed to remove viktor, mitzi, or ivy in such a careful or ruthless way despite his awful actions and words ) i find it hard to believe he ever truly cared for mitzi as an individual person outside of atlas. the way he so casually oozes disrespect and belittles her without blinking an eye is … interesting!

all of this is to say that i don’t think asa and mitzi were ever personally close. they probably never knew each other deeply nor made any real steps to try. they’d see each other because asa had a habit of appearing in the lackadaisy just as much as atlas had the habit of being at the marigold room, and so they’d greet each other and asa would be excessively kind in that bumbling fool way he keenly presents himself and mitzi would be pleased by his presence. very simple ‘this is my friend’s wife’ vibes and nothing more. i doubt asa would even be interested in cozying up to mitzi due to atlas’s implied possessive behavior lol … but it was kindness and it was caring to an extent. it just wasn’t as deep or loyal as mitzi might’ve hoped it would be.

[hobiebrownismygod]

Hiiii! So I don’t usually put in requests but I read your fic where Hobie is trying to get to know secretive Y/N- and since Y/N was said to have never took off their mask, I was wondering if you could write about that same secretive Y/N finally showing their face?

Writing requests even when anon is spooky 😭

This is a great addition to the original fic, thank you for requesting!! <3

Hobie Brown x GN!Reader Mysterious Part 2

<PREV

MASTERLIST

WC: <1k

A/N: Sorry it's taking me so long to get to requests, midterms are kicking my ass 😭. I swear I'll try to get the rest of the requests in my inbox out as soon as I can <3

___________________________________________________________

"Earth-138, right?"

"Tha's the place"

You typed in the coordinates onto your dimensional watch, before snapping your wrist towards the area in front of you, opening up the portal that would take you into Hobie's dimension.

You'd been trying to convince him to take you to his dimension since you'd met him, curious about where he came from. After spending the past week constantly hearing about the 'corrupted government' and the 'wanking pigs' that ruled there, you were even more interested in seeing the place with your own eyes.

You stepped through the portal, falling into what must've been Hobie's house- well, not necessarily a house. Were they on a boat?

"What the-" you looked out the window to see that his house was situated on a body of water, probably some sort of lake or canal. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell ya-" he said as he jumped through his own portal, landing in front of you and taking in your surprised expression. "-I stay on this houseboat here."

He gave the wall a pat, smiling before he looked back at you. "Her name's Stella."

"Why Stella?"

He shrugged, shoving his hands into the pockets of his vest before approaching you sheepishly. "I liked the name."

You snorted under your breath, rolling your eyes at him before taking another glance around. "So...you gonna show me around? Or am I just gonna stand here awkwardly?"

"Right, right-" he said quickly, beginning to walk towards what you guessed was his bedroom. His eyes widened for a moment before he looked back at you. "...wait out here for a moment. Jus' needa tidy some things up" he disappeared behind the door, leaving you standing in the hallway, arms folded across your chest.

You couldn't help but smile slightly under your mask. As you leaned back against the wall, you realized that you were feeling a little stuffy. It would've been much more comfortable to take off your mask, but you decided against it.

Why let him see your face? It wasn't important. It's not like seeing your face would matter...or did it? What if he thought you looked weird? What if there was something about your face he didn't like? Why take off the mask when there was so much that could go wrong?

"Overthinking at its finest" you scoffed to yourself, embarrassed by the thoughts running through your mind. "Pathetic."

The door swung open and you jumped, turning your attention to a slightly sweaty Hobie, who'd obviously just spent the last few minutes hurriedly tossing his mess to the side. "Come in." he said with a lopsided grin, gesturing for you to walk in.

His room was...amazing. It was like walking into a different world. There wasn't an bit of blank on the wall, every square inch being covered by some sort of poster, most of them being of various bands and artists, one of them being who you assumed was his universe's Gwen Stacy, with blonde spikes and a drumstick in her hand.

In the corner was his spectacular electric guitar, adorned in all the random stickers he'd found over the years, and next to it were various other instruments, a bass guitar, an acoustic guitar, even a ukulele next to his own set of drumsticks.

He looked over your shoulder, leaning in slightly. "So? What d'ya think?" he asked quietly, enjoying your surprise. "It's...awesome." you said softly, glancing over at him.

"It's a little messy-" he kicked a magazine under his bed, hiding it from your view, "-but it's...well, it's me."

"inconsistent?" You asked sarcastically, shooting him a sly grin.

"You could say that." he laughed, bouncing down onto his bed, that you were surprised he could even sleep in considering his size compared to its. Probably an old bed.

"You ready to see the outside world now?" he asked with an eyebrow raise, waiting for you to finish staring at all his magazines. "Uh, yeah. Sure." you replied, making your way back towards the door.

Suddenly, his arm pulled you back, preventing your from leaving. "Woah, woah, you're not going out like that!" He had a cocky look on his face, tilting his head. "Excuse me?" You asked him confusedly, staring up at his mischievous grin.

"I'm telling you, if you go out dressed like a superhero, you'll be shot on sight." he tapped his chin in a mocking way before glancing back at you. "I wonder what we can do to prevent that..."

Realizing what he was getting at, you took a step back, tone turning annoyed. "I won't let myself get shot." you said harshly. "I'm Spider-man."

"Yeah, but you won't exactly be able to enjoy anything either, eh?" he replied, ignoring your hesitation. "Come on, let's just be normal civilians for a little while hmm? Whad'ya say?"

"This is all just a ploy to get me to take off my mask, isn't it?" you groaned, looking away from him and shaking your head. "Depends. Is it working?"

"I'm not gonna do it."

"Come on!"

"Not happening."

"Just for a little while. It's not like you're horribly disfigured or somet'ing, right? It'll be fine!" He was pleading at this point, too curious to let go of his chance to see your face. After all, he'd been planning this out for a while. Since he'd met you just a week or two ago, he'd decided that he'd make it his goal to see your face one day, and now...he was so close.

He didn't know why he wanted to know what you looked like so badly. It's not like it would really matter. His curiosity however, outweighed the impulse control, and he found himself completely obsessed with what you might look like under there.

You were probably gorgeous.

"Please? I promise, it'll be fun!"

"I don't want to." you replied softly, biting the inside of your cheek and folding your arms over your chest. "Why not?" He matched your tone, leaning down slightly to see you eye to eye.

"I just...I don't know..." you hesitated, looking back at him. He looked so welcoming, reassuring smile on his face, a flicker of curiosity in his eyes...he wouldn't judge. You knew he wouldn't.

So you decided, for the first time since you'd joined the Spider Society, to show him your face.

He stared, eyes wide.

You flinched slightly, barely able to make eye contact, mask in your hand as you cowered under his gaze. It was so...awkward, for lack of a better word. You didn't know how to react to his scanning.

He continued to stare.

"Hello?" You waved your hand in his face, a slight smile appearing on yours. "You there?"

"hi." he replied, his voice breathy and his gaze unwavering. "You're....you're-" he stuttered.

"not what you expected?" you asked quietly, face falling.

"Perfect."

You looked back up at him, eyebrows furrowing in disbelief. "You're joking. Stop playing with me-"

"Wow" he interrupted, standing up straight, a wide grin on his face. "Just...bloody hell, you're gorgeous."

"Can you shut up?" you laughed, shoving his arm. He caught your arm, pulling you towards him slightly. "You know, I think the wait was worth it." he said quietly, unable to suppress the bashful smile spreading across his face. "You're even more perfect than I'd have expected, love."

"You're funny." you replied, shaking your head. "Now can we go-?"

"Yeah, yeah, we'll go. After I stare at you for just a few more minutes."

"Are you being serious?" You asked with a raised eyebrow, holding back a laugh.

"I'm being dead serious. You better never put that bloody mask on in front of me again, you hear?" he said, chuckling under his breath. "I wanna see this face every day from now on."

"Whatever you say" you replied sarcastically, rubbing the back of your neck in an attempt to stop the heat from spreading across your face.

"Actually, you know what'd be even better? If I'm the only one in the entirety of HQ to know what you look like." his eyes widened slightly. "That's right...yeah! I'm the only one that gets to see this pretty face from now on, a'right?"

You laughed softly. "You're the only one I'd trust to see it anyways."

[matt-roseheart]

I 'Lava' you

A short murder drones fanfic based on @dronebiscuitbat 's characters from their rp blog, @ask-elliot-doorman-fam, Tera and Kiara, Rad is here too :P

Kiara paced around the hideout cave, nervously fiddling with her fingers. "What if she doesn't like it? What if she thinks its too cheesy? what if-" Her rant is cut off by Rad trying to calm her down.

"Kia chill, this is Tera you're talking about, sure she may be tough, but every tough person i know has a soft and squishy side that loves this stuff" He says, as he's on the couch tuning a ukulele. "So, lets go over the plan one more time before shes back from checking the perimiter"

Kiara takes a deep breath, which doesn't help much to calm her nerves, "Okay, we're here becase you are 'practicing' for the short-story musical Mr.Roseheart is hosting,"

"Which is thankfully real, couldn't think of an exuse otherwise" He adds.

"Mhm, and hopefully she'll agree to sing along, oh robo-god i hope she'll sing along, she has to for this to work" Kia was nervous about that part, Tera had a beautiful voice, but only ever sang in the privacy of her room. Hopefully the hideout would be enough to bring her out of her shell a bit, no chances of others overhearing her here.

Before Kiara could linger on that thought, there was a sudden whoosh at the entrance, meaning Tera was back. Kia rushed to a seat, put on headphones, and brought up her laptop to a blank page, pretending to be writing something. No stories would be written today, only some of her thoughts going a million miles an hour, dont screw this up please work i have to tell her.

"okay, outside is clear, so Rad, why did you bring a ukulele again?" Tera asked, as she sat down on the other side of the couch.

"Oh, you know the musical Mr.Roseheart is gonna be hosting?" Wait, did she even know about that?

"The music teacher? Uh, yeah i think I've heard about that. Isn't it about a bunch of short-stories instead of one big one? My dad seems pretty interested in going." N had seemed exited when he heard about it, even wanted to audition.

Oh thank robo-god

"Yup, a friend of mine that auditioned asked if i could help with their story, so im here to practice"

"Ok, cool"

"And i was hoping you could help."

"Oh? with what? Guitar?"

"Vocals, i struggle on my own when theres multiple characters singing"

Oh no, she did not like the sound of that.

"I am NOT going anywhere near a stage and singing, no way!" Tera growled, which made kiara more nervous.

"No no no, just for practice, only here. The only audience being Kia" Rad said, as he motioned over to where Kiara was sitting. "The part I need you to sing is basically the same line over and over a few times anyway, please?" He was looking up at her with puppy eyes, hoping to convince her.

Tera hesitated for a moment, normally she wouldn't, but in this case, it was just the three of them, no prying ears to worry about, so why not. "Ugh, fine. But if a video of this starts floating around, you're dead. whats the song?"

"Do you know the song 'Lava'?" She should, Kiara made sure to show her, hoping Tera would listen to it for this.

"That cheesy lovesong between two volcanoes? Yeah, i think Kia showed that to me a while ago"

Good, so far the plan is working "Cool, I'll be the narrator, so all you need to sing is the volcano's part. Do you know the words?"

"He basically says the same thing over and over, so yeah, whenever you're ready." Wow, Kiara was suprised, this is going a lot smoother than she thought it would.

With Tera ready, Rad began to play, and sing suprisingly well, like he's practiced before....

"A long long time ago, there was a volcano, living all alone in the middle of the sea."

"He sat high above his bay, watching all the couples play, and wishing that he had someone too."

"And from his lava came, this song of hope that he sang out loud, every day for years and years" With her part coming up, Tera cleared her throat and began.

"I have a dream I hope will come true, that you're here with me, and I'm here with you, I wish that the earth sea and the sky up above will send me someone to lava"

"Years of singing all alone turned his lava into stone, until he was on the brink of extinction"

"But little did he know that living in the sea below, another volcano was listening to his song"

"Every day she heard his tune her lava grew and grew because she believed his song was meant for her"

"Now she was so ready to finally meet him above the sea as he sang his song of hope for the last time"

"I have a dream I hope will come true, that you're here with me, and I'm here with you, I wish that the earth sea and the sky up above will send me someone to lava"

At that part, Kiara began to remove her headphones and close her laptop, nervously making her way over behind Tera.

"Rising from the sea below stood a lovely volcano, looking all around but she could not see him"

"He tried to sing to let her know that she was not there alone, but with no lava his song was all gone"

"He filled the sea with his tears as he watched his dreams dissapear as she remembered what his song meant to her"

Tera was about to sing the next part, thinking nothing of it, until someone else began to sing, making her jump as she turned around to see Kiara.

"I have a dream I hope will come true, that you're here with me, and I'm here with you, I wish that the earth sea and the sky up above will send me someone to lava"

Tera was caught off guard, by both her singing and the fact that Kia reached out to hold her hand that was resting on the arm of the couch. Theres no way, is she....

As Tera realised what she was doing, Rad continued the song.

"Oh they were so happy to finally meet above the sea, all together now their lava grew and grew"

"No longer are they all alone with aloha as their new home, and when you visit them this is what they sing" Tera, now holding onto Kiara's hand, hoping this wasn't a dream, continued with her.

"I have a dream i hope will come true"

"That you'll grow old with me"

"And I'll grow old with you"

"We thank the earth sea and the sky we thank too"

"I Lava you"

"I Lava you"

"I Love you"

Tera's face was all blush, lighting up the cave with a lavender glow, along with Kia's equally bright white blush. They sat there staring at eachother in awe for a minute before Kia broke the silence.

"Was that too cheesy?"

Tera stood and said, "Not at all, you weren't practicing for the musical, were you?" she asked looking over at thad.

"Nope, this was all her idea" He motioned over towards Kiara.

"So did you like it?" She asked nervously.

"I loved it" Tera said, before placing a kiss on Kia's forehead, nearly sending her into a reboot.

"Oh! I think I need to sit down" Tera sat back down, with Kia sitting next to her.

As Tera put her arm around Kiara, she let out a sigh of relief, everything went perfectly, and she couldn't be happier.

[floylia]

ELYSIAN ♫

Overworked & Underpaid

Characters:

[name] — Has been in the industry for the past 7 years under Fatui Entertainment. You were scouted through your youtube account where you used to sing covers and originals. With no intentions of pursuing music, you ignored it, until Lumine and Aether dared you to audition as a joke. Audition day came and you sang the “banana song” from Despicable Me with Aether’s dead-beat ukulele. 2 months later, you received an acceptance letter.

Ayaka — Used to be a part time model for her older brother’s clothing collection before becoming a renowned actress throughout Teyvat after starring as a lead in one of Hutao’s shows. Brand deals were sold left and right. Every product she showed on camera became out of stock.

Lumine — Began vlogging during your senior year to “capture the last moments of high school.” After uploading her first video, thousands of views, likes, and comments flooded her inbox within 12 hours. The viewers loved seeing the chaotic chemistry between the three of you, earning you the nickname, “Golden Trio.”

Hutao — Famous for producing fantasy or historical based films with tragic endings. She has mentioned in multiple interviews that she owns a cup that said “tears of my viewers.” It’s a bit sadistic, but every time she uses it, new ideas come to mind. That’s when her co-workers know that a new hit movie is in the making.

Aether — Was a former trainee who was set to debut in a boy group, but instead quit to became a producer. No one truly knows why, not even Lumine. However, he seems happier with his job now—meeting new people and traveling between places seems to be his calling.

Thoma — The famous manager of DCKZ. He was caught walking towards the company building, wearing a black mask, while scrolling through his phone when suddenly reporters camping outside, told him to stand and wave for the camera, thinking that he was one of the DCKZ members. Still confused, Thoma did what was asked before the reporters realized their mistake. The video blew up and ever since that day, many fans greeted him eagerly during concerts.

Synopsis: After 7 years of enduring the media’s relentless pursuit of painting you as a villain, you’re forced to go through an indefinite hiatus with a tainted reputation on your head. However, just when you thought your career was over, a certain 5WIRL member wants you to feature on his solo album. Surely, this won’t affect your reputation once more, would it?

scaramouche x fem!reader

masterlist | next

[littlecello]

Lazarus: An Autopsy

So. I just got back home, and though I have to get up at stupid o'clock for work tomorrow morning, I am sitting down at my computer to give you all as much of a detailed write-up of the table read as I can. Please bear in mind these are my and Fern's opinions personal opinions, so if you disagree with anything said here, that's totally fine! This is all coming from the perspective of people who have been in the fandom since 2012 and 2009 respectively, and both of us love the show very dearly.

Now, without further ado - here is a summary and discussion of the table-read of the pilot episode of Lazarus. The detailed write-up is under the cut, but I want to share this shaky train-doodle I banged out on the way home to give shape to my own feelings:

Set Up

This was a dramatic table-read, meaning actors were sat on stage, taking the roles of the main and side characters, plus one narrator who read out the scene-set ups in the script. This was a complete reading of the pilot-episode as it would have aired on TV, complete with songs playing over the speakers as they appeared in the show (off the top of my head - Another Brick In The Wall, Somewhere Over The Rainbow (Ukulele Version), Life on Mars (yes they went there), Merry Christmas Everybody, and several more). It's important to note that this was not performed by the original actors; rather, they brought in a troupe of actors associated with the BFI, called the BFI Players. Unfortunately they aren't credited on the BFI website and there were no printed programme notes, so I can't tell you their names. Notably, though, Ashley Pharoah (co-writer of LoM) was present; after the table-read, there was a short-ish Q&A session.

Lazarus Pilot: A Summary

We start in 2024, with a car chase. Sam Tyler, now DCI of Internal Affairs of Greater Manchester Police, is hot on the pursuit of a Constable who we later learn has raped multiple women while on duty. Notably, Sam is driving exactly the way Gene would, ignoring regulations, nearly running over pedestrians and a cyclist. Sam apprehends the PC on the campus of Manchester University, which is filmed by the assembled students of the lecture that's been interrupted (a quote from the script: "heteronormative queer trans students") - that video subsequently goes viral as another example of police violence. It's clear that the PC is guilty of his crime, but he's let off, and most of CID pretty much turns against Sam. Sam's DI, incidentally, is biromantic and asexual, which is also turned into a joke with Sam making some acephobic remarks.

The next day, Sam finds the rapist PC dead - hanging from a lamppost as though he's died by suicide. CCTV reveals that about an hour before his death, a car idled in front of his home, and the PC had hurled abuse at said car. The driver cannot be seen. That same car is seen at a carehome in Didsbury, idling there just like it did in front of that house... and that car is also confronted, by none other than a geriatric Gene Hunt.

Here is where we start to realise that this Sam is different. It seems he never went back to 1973. He never had that accident, he never met Gene Hunt - he is, however, married to Annie Cartwright (only until half of the episode though, at which point she says they need to get a divorce). A lot of anachronisms going on here, but those will get explained a little later in the episode. Sam also starts having visions - first of a Space Hopper that keeps passing him by, later Clangers from the Planet of the Clangers appear to him. He keeps remembering lines we've heard in Life on Mars ("I never stitched anyone up who didn't deserve it", "If you can feel things you are alive, but it's when you can't feel things that you know you aren't alive", etc). Eventually, he goes to visit Gene in the care home and invites him for a drive, to see if that will jog any memories.

Gene, however, has other ideas - he eventually forces Sam to stop by the roadside, insisting "I'm going back! I'm going BACK!" The two start arguing, and then it devolves into a physical fight, which pushes them into the road... at which point, they are both his by a car. A red Audi Quattro, in fact, and just as everything fades to black, we see someone with white cowboy boots and a white leather jacket get out of the car...

1977. Sam wakes up utterly hungover in the Cortina, next to Gene who's driving. These are their 70s selves. They get to the station, where they find out that they've both been suspended due to Gene assaulting the Superintendent ("I didn't assault him, I strategically placed him... in a bin."). The department has been disbanded and taken over by none other than Derek Litton. Sam and Gene leave, with Sam driving home... to his wife Annie. On his way, he realises that he must have dreamt about 2024, and obviously doesn't understand what is going on. He talks to Annie about it, who becomes upset that he's starting to talk about all the future stuff again. It becomes clear that the case that Sam was investigating in 2024 (the dead rapist PC) is mirrored in 1977. And, crucially, near the end of the episode we realise that Gene also has memories of what we saw happen in 2024... and just at the end, when Annie is on her own, she suddenly sees the video footage mentioned at the very top (the fight at the MU) playing on the TV, and realises that Sam was telling the truth.

The Good

Let me start with the really enjoyable part of this afternoon - the actors who performed the script for us. They all did a brilliant job, especially Sam's actor. I'm pretty sure he must have studied up on John Simm's performance, because he got Sam's tone and cadence so closely to the original that I could really believe he was the character. The production was done well too, with the songs being played over the speaker system; plus, the narrator was absolutely brilliant at setting the scene, reading the descriptive bits of the script with loads of character and humour. The other actors were great too (Litton got a fantastic impression). The only one I wasn't convinced by was Gene's actor, because he gave his Manc accent a very theatric drawl that sometimes made him sound like a pirate. Definitely didn't come close to Philip Glenister's brilliant delivery of his lines.

Speaking of lines, there were some genuinely funny jokes in this. The whole scene with Litton was hilarious, and some of the modern-day jokes landed quite well too (Sam's DI pulls an "ok boomer" on him, to which he responds "that's Gen X I'll have you know").

And of course, I have to mention that it was SO LOVELY to meet a bunch of you in person!!!! It was lovely to chat, and thank you especially to @bisexualroger and friends who came and said hello, you genuinely made my day 🥹 The Bad

Sigh. Buckle up.

This table-reading really cemented for me what I've been saying for several years: The writing in Life on Mars is very mediocre. What made the show so amazing and special was the fact that the crew and actors took that material and elevated it to the heights we know and love. If you take that away... All of its shortcomings become very glaring.

This was even more obvious with Lazarus. Although we have to remember that this was a pilot, which means it was basically a sales pitch to studios and as such they tried to cram as much exciting stuff into it as possible, on the whole it just came across as very confused and embarrassingly self-referential. The characters often (but not always) came across as caricatures of themselves. The script often pointed out the race/ethnicity of characters in ways that felt very unnecessary and strange (more on that later). Most of the dialogue that took place in 2024 was incredibly stilted (again, more on that in a little bit). Most crucially, although it's clear that Lazarus was trying to bring Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes together to tie them up in a neat little bow, it just felt far too all over the place, even for a set-up episode (Lazarus as a whole was planned to be two series with 6 episodes each, like LoM). The Ugly

Basically, this show was supposed to be commentary on the present-day commentary between the public and the police... written from the perspective of two Old White Men(tm) with an unhealthy amount of nostalgia for the past who seem to think of the police as literal guardian angel, which is why they made Gene an actual angel (this is confirmed by what Ashley told us the ending of Lazarus would have been, which I will write up tomorrow because this would be too much for this post).

So, what does that mean in practice? It means that everything that was set in 2024 was an absolute shitshow. There were jokes about "wokeness" in every scene - things such as gender identities, diversity, ethnic food, vegan food, recycling, climate activism and more were only ever played for laughs, with a clear emphasis that everything was better in the "good old days". Especially all the jokes about gender and sexuality made me so angry, seeing as the fandom who has kept the show alive for the last 10 years is overwhelmingly queer.

Worse than that, this show would have been absolutely choc-full of copaganda. We already learn in the pilot that the entire philosophy is that "bad cops" are simply "rotten apples" that need to be removed from the force, which can only happen from the inside (this is Sam's role as DCI of Internal Affairs). And also, the public are just way too mean to cops, for no reason whatsoever - this is very literally shown in a scene in 2024 where a male PC touches a drunk woman's arm in sympathy and she yells at him "DON'T TOUCH ME", whereas in a mirrored scene in 1977 we see a PC giving a woman advice, who seems to be extremely grateful for it and even squeezes his hand for it. Which, if you know ANYTHING about what was going in Manchester at the time, in the wake of the Yorkshire Ripper and the associated police failings, is laughable at best, and an insult at worst.

Furthermore, during the Q&A, Ashley Pharoah unintentionally told on himself and Matthew Graham. I'm paraphrasing, but he basically said that when they both realised during the watchalong on twitter back in 2021 there still were a lot of fans of the show, that's when they felt compelled to properly give Lazarus a go. It very much came across as him saying "we loved the attention and wanted more of it, oh and also we thought we had something to say about the state of affairs regarding the police". Which, as I have laid out above, frankly is a sick joke. After everything that's happened - the protests in 2020, the way police forces in the whole country handled the Sarah Everard case, the fact that the current Chief Superintendent of GMP is an old conservative guy - the fact that Matt and Ash had the audacity to shop a show like Lazarus around to be picked up for TV is... astonishing. The confidence of white men, eh?

In Conclusion

Both Fern and I are very, extremely glad that Lazarus was not, and never will be made into a TV show. We are very glad that we get to keep Sam, Gene, Annie and all the others as they are. And we are also very glad that we went to this table-read, since we can now stop wondering what could have been. It's done and dusted. And, funnily enough, this has invigorated my fandom fire for LoM. I now want to create art of the characters I've come to know and love, to reinforce who they are to me. They are our characters now, Ashley and Matt. You don't get to play with them anymore. You don't get to twist them and put them through the wringer.

Tl;Dr

[cecilioque]

Lani Comic Master Post

I’ve organized the comic in order so its easier to find and read.  

Lani’s Journey

Concept Art >> Part 1 > Part 2 > Part 3 > Part 4 > Have to fight > Meet Kamado > Meet Beni  > Mantine Surfing > Meet Zisu > Bad Aim > Where did she go? > Berry Picking > Time to go > I am Free > Again > You Can Leave? > New Year/New Tracks / Forgiveness Part 1 / Forgiveness Part 2 / But can you stop me / Why I Leave / Meet Volo / Did she leave? / No time is wasted / And so they wait / Home / Magikarp / Irreplaceable YOU / Pointless / Little Steps / Space and Time / Take a break / Speed Run Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Blame Me / Boiling Point / Unraveled / Forgiveness Part 3 / Keep Going | From the Ashes | Aloha ‘Oe |

More Lani Comics

Dinner /  Coconut / How do you lose a woman / Ukulele / Meme Music / Isn’t that a date? / I have a permit / Lani’s fears / Ice Boy / Panic Attack / The Gang is all here / Watcha got there? / What a Woman / Pretty Flowers / Run / Scars Part 1 / Scars Part 2 / Two truths and One lie / What do you take with you / Emmet No / Smoochies / A Bad Dream / Happy Holidays / Is that his wife?/ Celestica Flute / Girls like flowers / Looking for a fight Part 1/ Part 2/ Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 /  Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Final Part /Surprise / Pearl Clan Outfit / How to say goodbye / Black Parade / Core Memory

Comics for thought

Meet Emmet Part 1/ Meet Emmet Part 2 / Is Emmet Sad? / New routine Part 1 / New routine Part 2 / Lost part 1 / Lost Part 2 /  We needed you / Plant Trees / A Good Person / We are not the same /

Submas Funnies

Heat Stroke / Am I a Man or a Muppet / V2 Man or a Muppet / Muppet Boys / Return of the buff brother / I was sad / Joltik Attack / Emmets Socks / Lego Men / Rock,Paper,Scissors /

Caelum and Emerson

My art:  1 | 2 | 3 | Sword Practice | Leathers | Before | Uniform | Fashion | Emerson | Roseate Eyes | The Astronomer | Art by @fronomeeps​:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Inspired | Caelum Expressions | Cat Caelum | 2 | Sketch dump | Humanity |

Character Design Analysis

The Submas / Volo / Adaman

Character Appearances

Daki @anime-grimmy / Isla @faestorian / Jess @draken-rotzi / Reno / Clone Lucas @tjs-stuffs​

Other Social Media

Instagram@sunseachu / Twitter@sunjuicy1 / AO3

Caramelldansen Animation Meme Template

Tall Character base / Short Character Base

Email List 

(Newsletter, updates, and bonus offers)

Merch Section

Apparel

Ingo Haori / Emmet Haori / Diamond and Pearl Clan Hoodies / Ginko guild Hoodie / Socks / Shirts / Ingo Hoodie / Emmet Hoodie / Eel Shirt / Eel Pants

Pins

Submas Set / Warden Set / Emmet / Ingo / Volo / Warden Ingo/ Traveler Emmet / Lani / Isla / Daki / Joltik / Tea Time Submas

Other Merch

Body Pillows / Submas Reusable Sticker Book / Pokedex Reusable Sticker Book / Tote Bags / Submas Socks / Keychains

EU Shop

Coming Soon

Plushies

[topazadine]

Ah I feel like I should reintroduce myself

Mostly because I kinda forgot what I said in my last one.

Look it's my dog Clark and my giant stuffed duck Ahiru-san (of Bizenverse fame, yes I bought the stupid fictional duck)

Anyway, basic points:

Cam

Ohioan (most important identity)

She/her pronouns

Fantasy author

Pit bull mom

SEO writer

Lesbian

Bipolar

But wait there's more

My hobbies other than writing, in order of how much I manage to do them

Staying up really late

Fighting with people on the internet

Walking my dogs (is that a hobby?)

Yelling at my plants to grow faster

Knitting

Horseback riding

Rock climbing (new! I am still bby)

Photography

Dollhouses

Kayaking

Traveling to underappreciated places

Activities I am fascinated by but do not understand whatsoever (if you have tips or do these things tell me pls)

Archery

Mounted archery

Caving

Ukulele

Embroidery

Spinning yarn

Things that I am deeply curious about

Caves

Superstitions

Human psychology

International conflict

Comparative mythology

Cryptids/ghost stories

Cults (but not joining them)

Bizarre deaths (especially stuff like cave diving deaths)

Stuff I have written that you should read

9 Years Yearning

The Lucretia Cycle

A lot of stuff on AO3

My sorta defunct blog (I moved back to Tumblr lmao)

Medium posts

Random facts about me that no one cares about

I have double eyelashes and a chest tattoo that says "Death to Rapists" in Latin Additionally, I have dyscalculia, which makes it almost impossible to learn languages or play a musical instrument because Brain Don't Work That Way. So it is annoying when people screech about monolinguals and say we're all lazy or whatever. I've tried multiple times to learn multiple languages and it simply does not work. Get off my back pls (random pet peeve) I studied abroad in Scotland on the prestigious Gilman scholarship and it radicalized me against England The main reason I did my Master's degree in International Relations is because they offered me a free year of tuition. This radicalized me against becoming a politician. As an aside, I did my Master's thesis on international human trafficking. Multiple people have told me I'm like a herding dog because I need to be doing something and get sad if I don't have a task My greatest fear is being electrocuted by stepping into a puddle after a rainstorm I get anxious going to the grocery store but have no problem with public speaking (strange) My favorite job I've ever done was an internship working with refugees (love) My dream vacation would be visiting the lava tube caves under Aokigahara, climbing through Buddha's Nostril in Nara, and then petting all the nice deer at Nara Deer Park I would also like to visit Mongolia and eat all their yummy snacks My most hated household chore is laundry Last year, when I went to Blood Prison, I cried because I didn't get scared and it's supposed to be one of the scariest haunted houses - I have a bizarre immunity to haunted houses because I can't suspend my disbelief Whenever I am in pain, I completely forget about the existence of NSAIDs and instead bitch about being uncomfortable until someone (usually my mom) reminds me that modern medicine is real and may in fact have solutions One time I stapled through my hand with a staple gun because I was trying to repurpose a cabinet drawer into a scratching post for my (now deceased) ferrets I am terrified of amusement park rides where you go up in the air but you don't have your feet on anything, like Windseeker at Cedar Point. My primal lizard brain craves the ground. But rock climbing is fine.

Yeah so that's it thanks

[cherrylng]

ROCK'N'ROLL PREVIEW 2008! - Yannis Philippakis Interview - FOALS [ROCKIN'ON (May 2008)]

FOALS New horizons of art-rock pioneered by rising stars Foals. Interview: Yukiko Kojima

Foals are the 'most eagerly awaited' newcomers in the UK in the first half of 2004, alongside Cajun Dance Party. We wrote in last month's issue that their album 'Antidotes' has an atypical beauty and a novel beat that doesn't belong to any of the current UK/US scene's formulas, but Yannis, the central figure who embodies their sound world as it is, is a bohemian from a different culture who deviates from all common sense more than we expected. He grew up listening to his father's Byzantine folk songs in a village in the mountains of Greece until the age of seven, and at eight he moved to England with his anthropologist mother to attend a school full of middle-class kids. While receiving a traditional British education for gifted children, which was proud and rigid, he fell deeply in love with American hip-hop and suddenly transformed into a rebellious child. At the age of 12, he learnt to smoke, got a piercing, learnt to play guitar at around 14 or 15, became obsessed with US alternative, and spent his time playing live with his childhood friend Jack (drums) in a local mass-rock band that played a lot of noise. They later formed Foals and introduced dance beats and melodies because "we didn't know anything about dance music, so what would it be like if we made dance music?" was the reason. Normally, it would be impossible for a boy like this to get into the prestigious Oxford University in one shot! But he made light work of it, dropping out after just one year to concentrate on his work in Foals. Their subsequent popularity in the UK and US is well known. What a punk! It's the best.

The recording of this album was already finished in New York last summer. Why did it take so long between then and its release? 「Mainly because of the mixing process. When we recorded it in New York, everything sounded the way we wanted it to, but when we got back to the UK and heard the final mix, it didn't sound quite how we wanted it to. So we had to go back to the drawing board and re-mix all the songs ourselves.」

Up until now, David Sitek has been a producer who has mainly worked with US acts such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Was it your own choice to select someone with such a creative background? 「Yeah, we wanted to avoid a producer who was steeped in the so-called 'UK indie sound', so we turned to him, but he did the mixing on his own after we returned to the UK. The final mix was a lot more gung-ho with echoes and reverbs than we had expected…… On a human level, he and I were on the same wavelength, and the basic recording itself went well. But at the mixing stage, the essential view of the album was definitely different from what we both had, I guess.」

I have to confess that my first impression when I personally listened to the album was: "What a strange sound/album!" But around the third time I was gradually drawn in, and now I'm completely addicted (laughs). Every day your strange instrumental sounds and songs are going round and round in my head. 「(laughs). You're exactly where we want you to be.」

Yeah (laughs). First and foremost, the tone of the guitar itself has changed. Some songs sound more like mandolin or ukulele than guitar, and the beat pattern is an original mix of Afro, reggae, and rock beats, with many unusual instruments taking the lead. It's also a complete departure from the usual 'verse, bridge, chorus' formula/stereotype of a guitar band. For yourself, how would you describe Foals' music? 「For me personally, what we're doing now is ultimately pop music. I can understand why listeners who are used to listening to regular guitar bands might find this kind of music 'weird' when they hear it for the first time. But how would you categorise music like The Police, Talking Heads or P.I.L., for example, under the usual pop/rock yardstick? There are too many elements mixed in to be categorised as post-punk or new wave, and they are moving into new genres one after the other, so it's impossible to put them into any one genre. My motivation for starting this band was to create accessible pop music in a way that wasn't bound by any stereotypes. So we don't intend to create avant-garde music that is more noble than others.」

I see. So, for your part, are you aware that you are a "guitar band with elements of techno and dance"? Or, conversely, are you aware that you are a "dance band with elements of a guitar band"? 「At least at the moment, up to the point of this debut album, I'd say it's more the former. But the next album might be an album with no guitars at all, or with an emphasis on Mongolian drums. The reason why we introduced dance elements in the first place is because all of us have been doing music that has nothing to do with the so-called dance scene, so we wondered what we would get if we made dance music, what kind of thing would we create? That's how it all started. So for Foals, it's not so much about the predictable direction, but more about what kind of musical adventures the five of us might have together next.」

You grew up with a mother who was an anthropologist living in Oxford, but despite that academic upbringing, why did you decide to be in a band in the first place? 「I grew up in a village in the mountains of Greece, my father's hometown, until I was about seven years old. In Olympos, where the Greek language is still spoken in an archaic dialect, there are many arranged marriages, and the old tradition that all the villagers are either acquaintances or relatives continues. My father still makes folk instruments there. So when I was a child, I grew up listening to Byzantine folk songs that my father used to sing at the dinner table. Then, when I was about eight years old, I came back to Oxford with my mum and was suddenly sent to a school full of middle-class English people. So it wasn't until after that that I came into contact with so-called Anglo-American pop music. At first I started to gravitate towards American hip-hop, like Wu-Tang Clan and Naughty By Nature, and I learnt to smoke at the age of 12 and became a problem child at school. I often skipped classes, hung around downtown, got piercings and beat up my posh classmates, and my mum was called out for it (laughs).」

(laughs). So it was during your rebellious period, when you went from a simple country boy to a delinquent, that you encountered pop music. But despite being a delinquent, you were smart enough to get into the prestigious Oxford University's English Literature Department in a single shot. What kind of bands/artists drove you to music, even after dropping out of such an elite course after just one year? 「After hip-hop, I started going deeper into bands like Skinny Puppy, Butthole Surfers, Swans, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and maybe early Nirvana. It was around that time that I started getting interested in playing guitar and started playing shows with Jack (drums) in local bands.」

I remember that in the band you and Jack used to be in, Edmund Fitzgerald, you played guitar rather than vocals. 「Yeah, the Oxford scene at the time was full of so-called 'Math Rock' bands, which were experimental bands for the sake of experimentation, and we then formed Foals and started playing guitar. When we started writing songs with vocal melodies and choruses, we started getting shut out of the scene because people were like, "You're messing with low-class pop music". After that, I got out of the local scene and even moved to Brighton with the band for a while.」

Is "Mathletics" perhaps a sarcastic reference to the math rock that was prevalent in the Oxford scene at the time? 「(laughs). Maybe. It's a song about the ridiculous snobbism of the youth culture, represented by rock bands and the like, when they take themselves too seriously.」

Now let's talk about the specific songs on the album. "The French Open", which opens the album, refers to the famous tennis tournament? 「Yes, specifically the song was inspired by Andy Roddick (US professional tennis player). He's so good, but he always ends up second best in the most important matches, doesn't he? He lost the Wimbledon title to Roger Federer two years in a row. This is a song about losers. I don't know why I'm attracted to imperfect people and expressions like that that are somehow unfulfilled.」

What I found interesting about your lyrics was that for someone who used to study English literature at a top university, you didn't have an overtly 'literary' style. Is this intentional? 「Yes, because it's quite funny to see someone in a pop band pretending to be a literary person. I still like literature myself, but I don't want to bring that kind of pretentious style into pop music. So I personally try to concentrate on the visual imagery and describe it rather than the emotion of the song itself. I didn't put this band together to write about my daily grumblings about how I broke up with my girlfriend or how I'm having these problems.」

What kind of writers/poets fit your sensibilities, incidentally? 「I still like Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams.」

You like the poets of the so-called early 20th century US modernist and imagist school. And more to the point, I recently saw the music video for 'Cassius' on your MySpace, and once again I held my head in my hands and groaned (laughs). What does that bizarre visual image of a mass of meat hanging from the ceiling, swinging around, symbolise? 「That lump of meat is the heart of a cow.」

I understand that, but I wonder how that image is connected to the song 'Cassius'? 「You know that phrase in the lyrics, "The wind is in, the wind is in my heart"? That's the image that came to me. 」

Ah, so that's why your heart is swinging in the wind. I'm starting to get a feel for it. Foals' songs often feature 'mysterious' motifs that rarely appear in ordinary pop songs, and the rhythms and song structures themselves are 'non-traditional', not unlike those of ordinary rock bands. In such circumstances, surprisingly beautiful, so to speak, "melodies and phrases rooted in traditional pop" can appear unexpectedly in unexpected places. Especially "Olympic Airways", "Tron" and "Red Socks Pugie". Where does this unexpected 'pop sensibility' come from? 「It probably comes from our non-techno side, where we like a more melody-oriented type of music too. I personally like Gwen Stefani, Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake, and I still listen to them a lot, and all of us like bubblegum pop with clean choruses and hook lines. It's that kind of thing that made us decide to disassociate ourselves from the local math rock scene, which rejects all of those elements, in the first place.」

You yourself commented earlier that the local Oxford music scene is "full of experimental bands for the sake of experimentation", but what you are trying to do with Foals is to be an antidote to this "elitist consciousness of the British indie tradition" and "to be an experimental band that is also popular"? 「Yes. I think it's fair to say that this kind of anti-climatic attitude towards the soil and trends that used to shape our musicality was one of our creative motivations. I think that's probably why our music still has a certain strangeness and complexity that is outside the usual pop song formula. There are still remnants of the way we used to form our band in that kind of soil. We really want to shake it off, but we can't because we're like the creators of it, and that's exactly what you're talking about, the "snobbism/elitism of the English indie tradition". Oxford, in every sense of the word, is a place where that kind of old traditional British temperament and culture is still there in an obvious way. It was the perfect target for rebellion.」

So, when you titled your debut album Antidotes, was it also meant as an antidote to all the 'bad traditions' that are prevalent in the UK and the national scene? 「Hmmm…………… I personally think the title is more about 'healing' in a broader sense.」

'Healing'? 「Yes, it's more like self-healing. One of the purposes of this album was to create a place and a sound world where people can heal and eliminate the toxins that have become distorted or deviated from their true selves as a result of living in this real world. How does it sound to the listener? How would the listener hear or perceive it? We can't even imagine how it will sound or be perceived by the listener.」

Translator's Note: In my previous post, when I said that there's more that this particular issue of ROCKIN'ON (May 2008) has in its pages, this is one of them.

I've never listened to Foals before, but I translated this interview article because I know one or two of my mutuals who love Foals a lot and show their love of it on my dashboard, so I decided to scan and translate this so that they'll enjoy something that comes from Foals' debut album era. So if you see this, please enjoy it :)

[unproduciblesmackdown]

furthermore going like okay not Sure of timeline things But. concerning bonus material Atlas's Actual Shirts deal

a) that bonus material is bonus material but this sure seems to fall into the [could be canon] &/or [basically is, but unseen within the main material b/c there's not really a place for it there] realms

b) both acknowledging the Marriage(tm) with a critical deconstructing lens huh. the girls & the gays. fucked up that someone might for example have an ongoing Gayce Moment (presumably aro as well, hardly irrelevantly) where their transactional associations must hinge on math, murder, etc

c) appreciating like okay mordecai would've lost everything but the clothes he was already wearing when he had to impromptu hightail it out of nyc, so that's when atlas must've given him his own clothes; this is Definitely Years Later (edit: definitely Months! Perhaps years! plausibly like a year or two! and apply that throughout the rest of this post)

d) when i) mordecai can surely have afforded to replace all the lended clothes & ii) his fumbling to argue the Practical Reasoning behind currently(!) wearing atlas's clothes still means it's Not for practical reasons. years later. while dodging & glaring at & competitive with & needling at atlas's wife. Oh You Know

e) and what a choice on atlas's part to give mordecai his own clothes. sure, that could've been the quickest way to give him Anything to wear (not now bloodstained, for instance) but buying new clothes would be like some possible Next Day shit, or, i dunno, asking around for Other people's secondhand clothes, both of which account for: this being several years prior to when this conversation could've happened, mordecai was how old when he met atlas? 16-18? 21 while we have it that:

this, after the fray at the lodge (noticing for the first time mordecai still has marks on his face from that here. it's been seventeen years Still noticing brand new things. like wick in volume one looking at a group photo in the café ft. the only characters known to us being mordecai, atlas, & viktor. what are you interested in about that hmm???) wherein, with the band on the stage, mitzi with a ukulele, & the dialogue suggesting as much amidst the context that atlas didn't really start being allied with marigold until after the lodge fray proper slaughter, atlas seems to be in the earliest stages of Meeting His Wife here. with his Ferocious Little Shadow. who i also note is looking Entirely Away even as prior i've simply interpreted this as Keeping An Eye Out &/or general disinterest in Anything going on at the speakeasies. competitive to near-homicidal relationship with atlas's ever-present wife....which, remembering what i was getting at in the first place. if atlas's shirts are noticeable big on mordecai at that point, surely all the more so originally. and he kept them! and kept wearing them! for Emotional Reasons Only Actually. goodness gracious.

f) where's the walking on sunshine mitzi & mordecai shopping montage? which did apparently happen, unless instead mordecai then rushed to get new bespoke shirts himself to avoid others Perceiving him judgmentally and the walking on sunshine montage specifically. she gives him a makeover (from buttonups to buttonups. whaddaya gonna do) she asks him for begrudgingly familial makeup touchups....she shares intimate exclusive secrets with him concerning my firm [they were both in on atlas's death, and so would atlas have to have been too] stance....Girl,

g) "atlas and i discussed that" what???? who???? when & why???? mitzi kicking her legs like so tell me about your Ferocious Little Gay Little Two Steps Ahead Shadow. did atlas volunteer mordecai's Entire Backstory as he knew it? did he provide it upon Request? did mitzi ask "why's ya boy wearing shirts that don't quite fit" and atlas goes "oh yeah that's because they're my shirts. i have noticed this without saying anything. for years" like imagine. what's going on around here

h) i forgot how i planned to work in this image of "i love this shot of & Look for mordecai." disheveled freshly wounded undershirt towel suspenders now as fashion accessories over pants Annoyed Sideeye & it Does help that elsa, real fave tertiary character, is here serving as well with the waist pants & putting her hair up & they're both always serving anyways. You Better Not Be Cunty Mordecai when i get over there to fish the shotgun pellets out of your body, Said No One!!!

anyways recap atlas giving mordecai his own shirts (at all genuine or All about trying to spam the [benefactor] key so mordecai sticks around & shoots people for him?) mordecai accepting and continuing to wear them for years until thwarted by atlas's wife whom he is Competitor with and now in one of those classic duos of "do we hate each other? well maybe, but also no of course not. we also share an understanding we can't have with anyone else. which is a secret about the same guy who neither of us wanted to die but were both involved in his death" mitzi Knowing things about mordecai, oh i know all about you wearing my husband's shirts years later, mordecai is at atlas's funeral nobody else we know but mitzi & asa are there obviously mitzi would have to know about this too like. transcendent. fluorescent. head in hands. happy pride

[mysadblacksoul]

Let's talk about Clancy, eh? (plus the livestream)

So I'm watching the livestream (the vod) and I decided to share my opinions about each songs!

without the first 4 singles

But tbh I think I'm an Overcompensate girly, that before hearing the rest of this album this is my top 1

With Backslide as a close second

Wait why should I increase my volume

Oh that's why

It was a trap

Okay Midwest Indigo, let's go I'm so ready

What an outfit Mr Joseph

Omg it's so bouncy

JIM

JENNA

I love the shouty lyrics

This MV is so goofy what the hell

Okay so it's so happy, so funky I love it!

The drums make want to do a lil dance

Hope the next one won't be sad

Yes Tyler, this song will go so hard live, I agree

And yes, put Josh on the mic!

Routines In The Night everybody

Oh so it's the rap one?

It's much less bouncy, but I can still tap my leg to it so I'm fine

You think that this is like the sister song to Ode To Sleep?

The chorous is so catchy what the hell

Yes! Give me those adlibs!

The dances, the visuals, the face card that never declines

What is he eating for Lord's sake

I can't pay attention to the songs when every time one ends those fools pop up on my screen again lol

"not every video is gonna be lore based" my ass

Wait so Routines is not lore oriented? But I see so many references :((((((

Vingette!

So it's a crowd's favourite? Aight

Oh it sound so nostalgic

More rap? okay, okay

Omg the vocals????

It's so different, like I can't predict where are we going with the beat

The bridge is so out of place but so in place???

What is going on

No but I see why they like it, for sure

God I love all the Joshes in the MVs

So Jenna's version will have another MV?

Sounds fun!

Oh it's soft version

So this is a fanmade mv for Jenna, how cute

No for real it is emotional, but in the best way possible

This version is filled with so much love, I can't even explain

The flashbacks to the young dudes? I might cry too

Yeah I se the vision. Like The Craving does feel more "right" played on the ukulele. It gives it much more emotion!

Now you just bully him lol. Tyler has two hands to hold two ukuleles, this is lore guys

Lavish whoo!

Before we start why the hell is the title of this song the only one written in different font in the lyric sheet in the CD, huh?

O damn man in black, get it I guess

The vocals are so dreamy, so different

Another leg mover

Why all of this songs are so catchy are you putting crack in it or what

It's also very chill so far

I also really like the use of the strings, it makes the song more full!

It kind of sounds like a movie soundtrack? Or is it just the MV that makes it feel this way

The silliest MV so far lmao

And seeing the amount of work that went into it makes it even better

And now Navigating!

I have to stop myself from looking for lore

I'm 3 seconds in, why it already sounds like a bop

This might be my new favourite song from this album

The electric guitar? With the synth? 11/10

The chorous is so amazing, simply

Will the bridge be sad or will he scream

Oh come through with this bass

JOSH ISN'T REAL THEORY WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE WE IN THE FOREST FIC

Where did he go irl lmao

No for real it might be my favourite now, sorry Overcompensate

The Bandito one is the real one, write that down

NO I THINK I JUST GOT IT, THE WHOLE LORE MAKES SO MUCH SENSE NOW

What the hell Tyler, we have such a different taste then

Snap Back let's go!

What is going on

I'm like a second in

Oh no, it's broken

Instead of Snap Back premiere we have the premiere of Next Semester (ukulele version)

I'm not mad at all

Okay, let's go for real this time

Oh it's so dreamy

So this is the MV with head shaving lmao

BACKSLIDE, I heard that everyone

The drums are really shining on that song

And I love the contrast between low tone verses and more melodic, high alibs in chorous

The bridge seems sad I fear

Or are we picking up the tempo?

Nah we are putting more adlibs now!

Even better

Oldies station better be nostalgic

And quick question before we start, what the hell did you do to Josh?

Is this ballad?

Soft, fun and with funky vocals!

The lyrics are so beautiful, god

Omg Josh lmao

What a contrast to the song lol

Oh we are switching

I don't know how to justify it, but it feels like such a twenty one pilots song

Like it just makes sense for them to make it

I really like it

Honestly At The Risk Of Feeling Dumb sounds silly from the start

So is the MV

I really like the rollercoaster of the vocals. They are kind of all over the place, but still makes a lot of sense

It's the beat drop on the "drop"

Oh rap some more sure!

Why does he want to fight in every MV

Very fun, very chill and then you have the post chorous that are hard hitting

Love the contrast

Am I crazy or did they use kalimba in the end? I might be wrong tho

That's so sad that we are already finishing

One last track

Paladin Strait whoo!

I'm afraid that this one will be the sad one

The tears producer

The heart clencher

The ukulele strikes back

Love those low vocals

It's a song to sway this time

The drums strikes back

I don't know why it kind of sounds like the end of the western movie. Like after the good ending the cowboy is walking towards the sun, you see my vision?

This song is full of hope, so amazing

God the lyrics sounds like Clancy is finaly free

I might cry

It sounds like good ending to the trilogy

So it feels like a scam

It's too good to be true

But I don't know, maybe after all the ending of this story is good for all of us

What, is the silence in the official audio or is it just the end of the livestream

NO WAIT THERE IS MORE

no

wait guys no

FPE?????

WHO THE HELL

IS IT BLURRY

WHAT THE HELL

Now I need the MV to see what the hell is going on

The End

Nah, I'm not leaving you like this

I still think that Navigating is my fav from the new songs

But I'm gonna go listen to the album some more and then decide for sure

It's a good mix of everything, very twenty one pilots style

I just wished for more rage and screaming, but we need to be calm sometimes, I get it

There isn't a song that I don't like, that's for sure

So yeah! This are my feelings, thoughts (and prayers)

Give me your favourite song in the comments!

[annashadowstar]

TODAY IS MY BABY'S BIRTHDAY!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BABY LAY AND GLAY!!! YOU WILL ALWAYS BE LOVED!!!

Since it’s Lay and Glay’s birthday, here’s are some facts about them.

Lay’s Fun Facts

Lay enjoy stargazing. They are like everyone’s little therapist. Lay knows how to dance ballets since they were forced to dance ballets. But sometimes, dancing ballet will help them to keep their mind off. Lay likes to play piano and ukulele. During Lay’s healing weeks, Lay won’t eat sometimes and won’t eat an entire day. They will only eat a small amount. Lay is a both cat and dog person, they like all kinda of animals. While using their power, Lay will start to feel a bit tired from using it too long. Since Lay knows about to reset and have the power to reset, they have nightmares of other timelines where their loved ones die over and over again. Lay will sometimes have nightmares about their ‘parents’ but their family is always there for them. Lay was able to remember the timeline Henry did.

Glay’s Fun Facts

Glay would sometimes like to go around the government camp or the Toppat Airships, no matter how much Kai told them to stay away. Kai trusts Glay to go to the Toppat Airship since Nicole(@lovelygirlnicole15) lives there. Glay usually will turn invisible to other people since they don’t want to let other people out. Glay stays on Earth because they want to move on with Chris and Kai if they pass away, no matter how long it takes. Glay has a little lamb named Blue, and those two stay together forever. It doesn’t rain a lot in the forest, at least five times a month, so Glay will carry an umbrella if it starts raining. Glay can go out if it’s snowing but if it’s raining, they will melt and get hurt. The tears will never go away, no matter how many times you wipe it. The sadder Glay is, the more tears will come.

I hope you learn more about those two little kids! Happy birthday, Lay and Glay.

Their birthday is on May 21... AND I ACCIDENTALLY FORGOT!!!!!