#I missed a lot of livestream because of work though I hope no one got their own pixel arts taken away?

[sepublic]

The Owl House's Ending Anniversary...

So it's officially been one whole year since The Owl House ended.

One year ago, I wondered how I would move on. How I would keep going. But I also knew I would, no matter what, because time keeps going on. Things will eventually pass, they always do, that's how so many moments and days for me have gone. Even entire periods of my life.

So I'm not surprised how things have gone on since then; I still had plenty more things to say about TOH, and I still love it just as I have. I've gotten new hyperfixations, and even returned to old ones as some of you can see with recent posts, so it's only a matter of time before TOH circles back again.

And man does it feel so slow, only to feel so brief, it really feels like this anniversary has snuck up on and surprised me! And once again, we have some other, appropriate event lined up; A solar eclipse on this anniversary! Luckily there's no sigils nor coven heads gathered to make me worry. But dang, it was raining in Connecticut when Luz returned there, and it was the rebirth of Jesus when Luz was resurrected.

Makes me wonder if anyone of the Boiling Isles, justifiably, has had PTSD from solar eclipses, and dreaded any that showed up, despite knowing it couldn't happen again. People must've held their breaths the entire time during the first eclipse, panicked at even the slightest fatigue, and then it passed and they realized it really was impermanent and over. And that there was another step towards moving on, which I guess I can relate to now, though this is something I'm much less happy to see gone.

I think a lot about how TOH has influenced both me and my writing, how I approach characters and stories now. I've found myself gravitating more and more towards personal, character-driven stories and situations now. I still have a bit of a taste for grander-scale stuff, but TOH was special for me in that it feels like the first time I really got and understood a show and its characters from the ground-up as I experienced it all in real time. The first time I truly grasped themes and character arcs and could make reasoned predictions based on those, some of which came true! It really feels like THE big start of my media literacy in a way?

It's been fun looking back at TOH as a 'whole' work more or less to reevaluate, and learning other things behind-the-scenes about the show. We've had a few more livestreams and stuff confirmed. Dana's done more drawings, including on her Patreon.

I haven't been writing as much TOH stuff lately, and tbf I've already said soooo much. I might have other, new things to say later down the line, and I do have a few thoughts I've written in notes that maybe could be fully-fledged posts in their own right. I've found comparisons to protagonists of other media, like Miles Morales, or Arin from Ninjago.

The Owl House still is and will probably always be something truly special to me; It feels like my first real fandom experience. My first time understanding and learning a show, appreciating it as it develops and even as I speculate. It broadened my tastes and horizons, my ability to participate with others in stuff.

I miss it; I miss new episodes, new developments. I'm still agonized over things that could've been, things I would've loved to see more of. I'm apprehensive over whether we'll get that Raeda prequel because I don't wanna get my hopes up. Plus Dana needs a well-deserved break and is trying and experimenting with new, different things. And I get that.

It's bittersweet, it's scary, it's freeing, it's sad, it's happy. I've gone so far, this show and fandom has gone so far. And it'll keep going, it has to, time keeps marching on. Luz had to lose her father Manny, process that, but still keep going and must be surprised looking back how much she's adjusted since then, how much she's still grown and gained and learned, while still holding him dear; The same applies for the Titan and the magic she once wielded. With grief and acceptance being a core theme in this show, I'm not surprised that it prepped up the viewers to do the same, and now we have.

And you know what? I'm gonna keep going on, like Luz Noceda, possibly my favorite protagonist of all time, one of the greats and a huge inspiration now for how I really want to write and focus on my own protagonists, too. I'm gonna keep doing this like it never ended. The rate and frequency might fluctuate, but every now and then I'll have things to say, and stuff to drop by and check, such as with the tag and the occasional trending post, others' reblogs, and so forth.

So again, thanks to Dana and the crew. Thanks to Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne, King Clawthorne, and the other many, many characters! Luz's story is one where it feels like the show really is about her at its core and wraps around to her, and I want to do a story one day that accomplishes the same feeling. And as I see how Dana has been inspired by past influences, I can't help but look forward to future generations and stories that will themselves have been inspired by The Owl House, I know I've been already, retroactively applying it to things that were already fairly compatible to begin with, and really needed the fresh breath of new inspiration.

I'm repeating a lot of the same things I've said last year. Will I say the same stuff another whole year from now? I'll see. But until next time... BBBBYYYYYYEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

[cammslush]

6REEZE Yandere series Part 3

-----

Content warning(s): Yandere themes (unhealthy obsession)

Let me know if I missed anything.

-----

Part III: Main Rapper - Xiao

"Good morning. How are you all doing today? I hope you all are well."

Such a simple greeting, uttered so beautifully, so gently, with a voice so sickeningly sweet. Such a simple greeting, yet Xiao's face couldn't help but slowly turn a pink shade upon hearing such an angelic voice from his earphones.

"If you're not doing well, I hope that I can make your day a little bit, if not very much better."

So alluring, so enchanting, that his ears immediately shut out any other sound besides your recorded voice, as well as the thumping of his heart against his chest.

"Come on, let's start the day off energetic."

Every single morning, he turns on his laptop just to listen to the exact same video before he gets ready, it's almost as natural as breathing. It belongs to an ASMR channel, your ASMR channel, the video itself being a sort of "morning routine call".

Being an idol is no easy task. Every single day is practice and practice for the next song, or for the next concert. Sometimes one can get deals to be featured in some reality show or magazine, which requires extra energy and social effort, the latter of which Xiao lacks.

"You can do it, one step at a time." No matter how tired he feels…somehow, just the sound of your breath through his earphones is enough for him to re-energize.

It's because it lets him know you still exist. There's that teeny, tiny chance that you too, are a fan of 6REEZE, right? Though Xiao keeps reminding himself that shouldn't get too ahead of himself.

He is physically unable to get up from bed and do anything productive without hearing this audio recording of your sweet voice assuring him that you will "accompany" him throughout his day. Nothing makes him feel better more than you, asking him how his day has been.

When in reality, those words aren't directed to anyone in particular. But who can blame him? Anyone will be so infatuated with your voice that they'll think you're talking to them only.

…It's a small part of him that makes him wonder whether he is still an idol, or if he has become the creepy fan.

"Hey Xiao, it's practice time," Kazuha told his fellow group mate, who sat quietly in the corner of the canteen.

"Okay," Xiao responded, but his attention was solely focused on his phone screen, "I'll be there in…5 minutes."

"But you and Venti are the main features of this song. We can't practice without you," Kazuha tried to reason with him to be punctual, but was met with silence.

"..." The white-haired idol really wanted to figure out what exactly was on his phone that Xiao was so interested in. Xiao was so focused that he didn't realize Kazuha was taking a small peek at his phone.

"[ Non-ASMR ] Just a chat stream"

That was the title of the livestream Xiao was giving all his attention to.

Kazuha didn't say another word and quietly walked away.

"Hmm…" Xiao watched as you read the live chat with a smile. He didn't dare to touch the chat box, he feels like you're too good to be reading anything he spouts.

Even when it's not an ASMR video, your natural talking voice, too, is too angelic for one to listen to anything else. Your voice is so soft, like a blanket he would cuddle as he falls asleep after another hard day of idol work.

"What do I think of 6 — is it a six?" You stumbled upon a question in the chat, "Oh, it's supposed to be a 'B'...then, '6REEZE'? Aren't they a really popular boy band? I hear my friends talking about them a lot."

Xiao almost had a cardiac arrest when he heard you mention that name.

You won't say anything good about him, will you? No, he's got ahead of himself again. You didn't even know how to pronounce their band name, so you probably won't even know a person named 'Xiao' exists—

"I remember one person in particular that my friend keeps fawning over is the one who always wears that cool looking mask. Can anyone tell me his name?" You asked, recalling the music videos your friend shows you nonstop. Looking through the chat, you hoped to find someone who knows.

As expected, a lot of your subscribers also happened to be 6REEZE fans too. Over and over again, chat messages saying the name 'Xiao' (some are completely capitalized for extra dramatic flair).

"Xiao?" If cardiac arrest wasn't enough, Xiao was ready to drop dead on the spot. There's no way you just said his name. If it was a regular person, something like this would've been completely normal. But this is you we're talking about! The you, who is Xiao's angel sitting on his right shoulder.

"It sounds like a name from Liyue. That's interesting! So the members of 6REEZE seem to be multicultural. Because I also remember there was a guy from Inazuma as well, right?" The words from your mouth keep flowing, but Xiao's mind still lingers on the moment you said his name.

He must be crazy, reminding himself over and over about something so insignificant.

"But yeah, it might be because my friend showed him to me the most, but Xiao looks the coolest to me. His rapping is really clear too, in my opinion," you said, so genuinely and from the bottom of your heart, "Then again, I'm not a boy band connoisseur. Maybe I'll give 6REEZE a try, now that you mention it."

Stop it. Stop it right now. Xiao might actually die. And he still needs to practice soon. You're gonna try listening to 6REEZE music now, and you think his rapping is really neat…?!

Xiao has this sudden urge to get up and practice his ass off. He's counting on that one chance that you watch the upcoming music video he is supposed to practice on, so he can show off to you. He couldn't bear to turn your stream off just yet, but knowing that he now has a reason to put his all into being an idol—

"Xiao? Why do you look so…" Aether saw the look on his friend's face as he finally walked through the doors to the huge practice hall. "Fiery? Up for practice?" Heizou finished the sentence.

"Also, why are you late?" Jean, the manager, glared at Xiao, "It's been 9 minutes past the scheduled practice time." Kazuha whispered to her, "I tried to call him, but…"

Xiao wore his signature cold, nonchalant look on his face,

"That doesn't matter. Come on, let's get this over with."

[cattimeswithjellie]

What Went Down at Scar's House or: How Scar Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (and Arrows)

Okay, it's taken a whole entire week and watching five separate videos, but I think I finally got the story of what exactly happened during Scar's livestream last week when the arrows started flying and people started glitching in and out and there were explosions and random bearded men throwing diamonds at people. I was in chat when that all went down and it was all very confusing, but now: answers! (For the perspective just from Scar's livestream, check out my earlier post, Hermitcraft is a Dangerous Place)

So it went down like this: Cub and xbCrafted and Impulse are the Diamond Beard Block Brothers, they built the diamond block pillar to flex on the mere mortals building diamond ore pillars and got their tower shattered by a magical dwarven anvil back during the Pillar War. They got together one day to take their pillar down and divide up the spoils. Since the pillar started as Cub's pillar and Cub lives in Scar's basement, the pillar is right next to Scar's base. From the top of the pillar where they were working, the guys could see Scar down below, livestreaming as he cleaned up his chest monster by moving it a short distance away into a new chest monster.

Impulse and XB (and possibly Cub though I never caught him with a bow in his hands) began taking potshots at Scar in retaliation for weeks of Hawkeye behavior, but they are either not fantastic shots or weren't trying very hard. After at least eight attempts, one of them actually hit him with a fire aspect arrow. It took Scar awhile to notice this.

In the meantime and completely unrelated, Doc had noticed Scar working outside, livestreaming and not paying attention to anything at all. He decided that this was an opportunity for a little bit of delicious revenge for his defeat in the Diamond Pillar War, and an opportunity to create a torpedo that actually got to explode. Starting from the paddlewheel of Ren's boat, he erected a shield to hide his build, then put together a quick TNT-bearing flying machine, aimed in Scar's direction. Now Hermitcraft is a friendly server and Doc is a responsible blower-up-of-things who would not actually want to blow up Scar's beautiful build or his ridiculous chest monster, so he aimed it low enough that it would hit the riverbank, create a lot of noise and commotion, and not hit anything terraformed. It worked brilliantly, and would've been extremely effective if Scar had not been completely distracted by talking to chat and also being on fire thanks to the DBBBs in the sky.

Up in the sky, the DBBBs watched the torpedo launch with fascination, then watched Doc fly across the river to gloat to Scar. From way up high, they could not hear Doc's threatening "The next one will hit!" and neither could Scar on the ground because he was busy freaking out over Doc's suddenly appearing out of nowhere like a Halloween jumpscare. Impulse tried to launch an arrow into the mix, just for general chaos purposes, and wound up almost killing Doc by accident. This somewhat dampened Doc's threatening aura but also ended the arrow-based threat of the DBBBs, because Impulse then went to hide so Doc wouldn't see him.

As soon as Scar decided the immediate threat was past (for whatever reason), he challenged Doc to an ab-showing competition that required both of them remove several layers of clothing. The DBBBs watched this from above but couldn't see what was happening, so Impulse tried to drop a diamond block on them to see what would happen. He missed by a fairly wide margin, leaving a diamond block on the ground at risk of despawning if someone didn't go pick it up. Nobody wanted to go pick it up because they didn't want Doc to see who'd shot him. Cub persuaded XB to try a clever maneuver involving throwing an Ender Pearl high into the air, then another one down to the ground, in the hopes that the second one would send him down long enough to grab the block before the first one landed and teleported him back to the top of the pillar.

The maneuver worked brilliantly, with XB touching down momentarily, grabbing the diamond, and flickering away again. Scar didn't see anything since his inventory was open, but Doc noticed, just for a second, what seemed almost like a graphical glitch of XB. He told Scar, who did not believe him and dragged him away to try and sell him on a redstone shop that hasn't even opened yet. The DBBBs got back to work.

Later on, when Scar was back at his base and terraforming again, the DBBBs finished up their work and divided up their loot. They'd also taken down the diamond anvil and decided to return it to Scar. Because they were in a group call, they could hear Scar but not talk to them and he couldn't hear them, so it ended up looking like the three guys in silly beards who had been shooting at him earlier suddenly showed up to yeet piles of diamond ore at him. Scar was confused, but not about to let good diamonds go to waste. The DBBBs ran away again, mission accomplished. Scar, being Scar, shrugged and continued on with his day because sometimes things are just like that on Hermitcraft.

[joehillssimp]

Holds my mic up to you, "In light of recent poll results, what's the general mood? Did you believe your candidate would make it this far?"

Well you know when I first nominated Joe Hills for MCYT Tumblr Sexy Man, i figured Mr. Hills would get a few more nominations, but likely wouldn't even make it onto the bracket.

After all, at the time, despite Hermitcraft being One Of if not THE biggest Minecraft Servers closely followed on this HellSite(affectionate), he was certainly one of the less popular, considering his sub count in regards to others such as Scar.

Not to mention the behemoth that was the DreamSMP.

Now, as someone who frequented the fandoms of both of those major servers, I knew the power and the Sexyman-ness of Wilbur, Scar, Technoblade, and Quackity, and i had figured that one of those more major players would take center stage as the Definitive MCYTblr Sexyman.

Seriously, if you asked me to put money on it, I would have picked Scar to take it all.

But then the Nomination round went on... And on... and On a little More...

And Joe got 3rd Seed Overall.

And Oh Man I Got Shoved Into Maximum Overdrive

We had a chance. And not only a chance, but a Mother Fucking Top 3 Seed. I coulnd't have dreamed of even being seeded that high. But that is the Joe Hills Difference isn't it?

Now, since this was before we saw the bracket, I had hope, but I wasn't about to set my expectations too high, for all I knew Joe would get Scar or Technoblade or someone in the first round and Boom, all my hopes and dreams would be crushed before my eyes.

And then the bracket came out.

And not only did our High Seed mean we'd skip the Wild Card Round, but that we wouldn't be in the same Bracket as Scar(who let's face it was in a pretty hefty Bracket, probably to offset being #1). And not only were we not in the same Bracket as Scar, but out first 2 Rounds were Easy Victories.

And this was when I shoved every part of myself into Watching This Showdown.

And I will admit that I still didn't expect us to beat Scar. I was hoping for a nice and clean, 2nd Place.

But as we can see now

That isn't what happened.

Joe didn't get eliminated in teh preliminaries.

He didn't go down to the Sexiest Living (RIP Technoblade I hope you're making the afterlives/immortalities of whoever you're with rn an absolute hell and loving the shit out of it) DSMP Sexymen.

He didn't even fall to the Bisexual Queen herself Zombie Cleo.

And honestly, this IS, "The Man Who Conquered Death" afterall.

Why would we as a community believe that he could be defeated by anything less than Death itself! (or herself I think Miss Trixtin was in the first couple of rounds i don't remember though I was kind of busy screaming about Joe)

And here we are. After a long hard battle.

After Days of Voter Fraud,

And Discord Planning,

And Art Making,

and Horribly thought out campaign promises...

With Joe as #1.

And let me tell you...

I'm hella terrified I'm going to have to spend the next who knows how long working to animate a Sexy Joe Hills to Justin Timberlake's "Sexy Back" because that's what Joe has done and it's going to be a lot of work that hopefully will be worth it in the end.

If you wanna watch me Draw/Plan/Storyboard/Animate the Joe Hills Sexy Back Animation then come check me out at twitch.tv/anablazebanana

At 10pm PST where I will be livestreaming quite a bit of the process. I'm mostly doing this because @theminecraftbee said they were going to hold me to it so i may as well have tangible progress reports semi-daily.

So ya know, at least I have something to do now that all this is over and my life won't feel like an empty void without something big happening.

[goldenpinof]

Hi, anon from the long post here. Ngl I wrote that when I was kind of in a bad mood and just thought it would be ignored, I do stand by a lot of the points though.

When I mentioned hostility I meant more in how recent things have panned out. I didn't mean that they both went into the agreement with reservations but rather as things have gone downhill their relationship has become less amicable - hence the 'nobody takes me seriously' insta post. However I see why putting that at the start of the post would have been confusing.

I will admit that when I looked up doomed touring (the company) it was before they had released any documentation so I did just assume it was a 50/50 split. That being said, with a small company like that they aren't going to vote on every decision so even if Dan has the majority of voting rights it doesn't mean that the management won't go behind his back - especially when they have the added influence of being his management team. I really do suspect that the main communication between the promoters and Dan is his management which is why it took so long for him to find out about Iceland. That would also make it easier for them to finalize decisions without him (again hence the bitter insta story).

As for the obligations bit, if he did agree to a marketing strategy and then dismissed it then that would be him not meeting his obligations? I'm assuming he did everything listed in his contract but there probably would have been assumptions that he would put more effort into getting out content as was hinted at in WIQY which took a long time to materialise. And when he did make content he decided to put it on his second channel despite not having used it for so long. I'm not saying it was a really bad thing that Dan didn't promote as much as he should have been doing, I just hope that he acknowledges that it played a role in lower ticket sales and might explain why his management might be less eager to share things with him.

“then he didn't upload them [dd] nearly as often as he was promising despite it being the best way to drive sales”

(using your captions for clarity)

Yeah I agree with you I looked back and I'd just completely missed the last lot of uploads. I just remembered the massive gaps between the first couple that came out and I was going off if that, and the promised ones that just never got posted like louises. They would have worked better if they'd been more regular and less cut up, especially as most of them were kind of just nothing rants and needed the guest sections to balance them. I think it was the second insta livestream that he did that he said his management was making him do DD? It was one of them at least, he's been very clear that it wasn't what he wanted for his channel.

“It could be that they have just cut him out of these decisions since he's obviously going to push for things that aren't going to make money.”

Like I mentioned above just because he has voting rights doesn't mean that they're always going to listen to him, especially because they have added authority to make decisions as his management. By 'cut him out' I basically just meant that it seemed like they were finalizing things without telling him.

Also even if it is Dan's money, they are probably contracted to get a certain portion of the profits so they will want to protect that. As his management they can make excuses as to why the shows need to be cancelled and it does seem like Dan has given them too much freedom. It really feels like he should be the ones on contact with the promoters.

As for the not cancelled shows it's likely that they maybe they wanted to cancel them but couldn't due to the venues contract but I do agree that Dan probably pushed for them to go ahead. They might not be as fussed about them as it's going to be a lot cheaper to get the equipment between those shows than it is to Iceland for example.

Also I think you've misinterpreted what a tour promoter actually does? They will provide advertisment but their main job is to book the venue, make sure people can buy tickets, and arrange for the transportation of people and equipment between venues. They do 'promote' the tour as well but usually the management will have to push for it since advertisment will eat into their profits more than the extra ticket sales will bring in.

The original art was most likely commissioned by Dan and then given to the promoter to use. I would assume it came from the same people who did his merch. If he already had the templates and his management were hanging back to see which tour dates they were actually going to include it would make sense that he would just get impatient and use his own. Maybe he thought it would make his management more likely to let the Iceland show go ahead?

“he really isn't used to working in an environment where he has somebody to answer to”

Yeah I agree with you that YouTube were unprofessional. I do wish that he would see the positives though. Not a massive fan about how he twisted GANP and hometown show down to be things YouTube made him do. They were big opportunities and honestly probably not ones he deserved given he'd been off YouTube for so long. I really would like to hear the full story since I'm sure there was a lot that got left out.

I didn't mean that all of the Asia shows lost money, just that the trouble they had in the Philippines meant that they didn't end up making a profit for that leg. I thought they had some issues in Singapore as well? Maybe that was me misremembering stuff though.

“Dan clearly has issues with control, it feels really strange to me that he went all in with II and then when it came to his personal 'dream' project he pawned off half of the costs and responsibility on someone else”

Didn't they say they self funded II? They had the prize sponsorship sure but I don't think they paid for most of it. Idk it's lot to keep track of. I know he's got investors for this one which he was always going to need but I don't know why he didn't just put himself in charge of the company and contract the management on rather than going in with them. It would have made it much easier for him.

I don't want people to think I'm talking about this because I don't like Dan or whatever. I'm kind of indifferent to him this is all speculation of course, but the assumption of lots of phannies have that he did everything right and is being screwed over constantly isn't going to help. How can you learn from your mistakes if they're always somebody else's fault. If he's going to try for another tour he needs to accept that there are things he needs to do better.

Sorry for dumping this all here, the hardcore discourse blogs are all painfully dead. You can ignore it if you want.

i can't ignore it, what the hell reifdhjnewidskx

WARNING: 90% of it is alleged. in reality we know only crumbs of information. also there are things that i forgot about and couldn’t find.

i may jump from point to point and sometimes contradict my own words. it doesn’t mean that i don’t understand what i’m saying. it just means there are more than 1 or 2 possible things going on, but i’m incapable to structure my answer. since i don’t know if Dales Evans and Above the Fray are somehow connected other than having the same address, it’s hard to evaluate their roles. as was pointed out to me, Dales Evans work for dnp, helping them with taxes, accounts and etc. they prepare documents for dnp's companies. i can be 100% wrong about some things i said (i am. but it's too late to delete this.)

(putting it under read more because it’s too much)

again, if i don’t comment i probably semi-agree. for some reason i made the text in bold either when it’s your quotes or to highlight what the paragraph is about.

got it about hostility. i agree, that now Dan and his management are not on the best terms, that being said... i agree that the main communication between promoters and Dan goes through his managers (as it should) but that would mean that it's not the promoters who are screwing him over but his own “partners”. "That would also make it easier for them to finalize decisions without him (again hence the bitter insta story)" they literally can't do that 😂 sorry, it's so funny to me, because if they are actually doing what you just said, it's so messed up that he can try to sue them. "75% or more" - he has the majority, they all can fuck off. (LLP doesn’t have share capital so does % of voting rights and surplus assets show how much he invested in it? maybe). side note: i think they opened a new company aka Doomed Touring LLP to pay less taxes. it’s a common thing in a lot of countries. so who knows what kind of business relationships they have or if they even have any specifically within LLP. it can be just a company that is indicated in the documents. or it can be that Dan partnered with Dales Evans to fund the tour and Above the Fray has nothing to do with it (funds-wise). that would mean that Dales Evans can pressure him since they want not only their money back but also get some profit. but they can’t just dictate things or ignore Dan. also if the main communication between Dan and Dales Evans goes through Fleur Smith (aka Dan’s manager) and they can’t come to agreements in Dan’s favour but still exclude him from conversations - that’s messed up. i wonder if Iceland cancellation is any sign of this. the way it was communicated is very worrying. (i wonder if Dales Evans has anything to do with marketing, it’s a big company, so are they providing their marketing department to Dan? when Dan said there were 10 people whose job was to prepare, approve and proofread that promo image, did he mean his promoter’s team or someone else’s? because then, when it came to Warsaw/Helsinki/Amsterdam promo with a different design he explicitly said “who needs a promoter”.)

about obligations. in the 1st ask you said "Dan didn't fulfil his obligations to promote the show at the beginning" that's why i questioned the existence of the actual marketing strategy that he potentially would have to follow. we don't know if it was proposed and agreed to (other than dd. but having dd isn’t a strategy. it can be just one piece of a giant plan that should consist ticket prices, digital marketing, indoor/outdoor banners (that were spotted only in England?), interviews, etc. he had interviews but he promoted only like 2 of them? why?), thus we can't say that he didn't fulfil his obligations. but okay, option No 2: he did do everything that was listed in the initial plan for promo. it didn't work as they hoped it would. they wanted him to do more. okay? but that would require an additional plan with possible outcomes listed. and Dan had a right to say no if he didn't like the plan or its outcome, or didn't believe the team (or just didn't like their copywriting!). it doesn't mean that they should have just stopped trying. negotiations are the key. they could propose things, argue them, try to convince him, and ask for help ffs. Dan is a stubborn person, i don't deny it, but there are ways to make him do things.

dystopia daily: i found this masterpiece in the 1st IG liveshow, “i decided to come back to youtube somewhat because i have a contractual obligation to promote my tour..” did you mean that one? contractual obligations with fucking who? (and now we’re guessing)

“Also I think you've misinterpreted what a tour promoter actually does? They will provide advertisement but their main job is to book the venue, make sure people can buy tickets, and arrange for the transportation of people and equipment between venues....” - i know. but Dan mentions only his promoter when it comes to promo materials and communication with potential audience of the show (announcements, emails, etc.). i have to admit that i wasn’t giving Dan’s managers and partner company that big of a role in all this mess until your original ask. but i still think that they are here like a middleman between Dan and promoters, and also like a pocket with money (allegedly). i’m not saying that his promoter is paying for the materials from its pocket (re: “advertisement will eat into their profits more than the extra ticket sales will bring in”). they have a project, and a part of its budget must have been paid beforehand by the client aka Dan and co. but it’s true that they can’t jump higher than it was established. if promo expenses have 10k to spend then they have only 10k. you can’t really add much to it unless you rearrange the whole budget and cut something else in promo’s favour (or expand the budget, those things also happen). although, marketing team must be theirs and they must control the website. and that’s why Dan can’t fucking do anything with it (Copenhagen and Dublin are sold out but they are not listed as such in his promo banners. the website hasn’t been updated since they added Warsaw until yesterday?!?! do you see this shit, i’m shocked). if it was irl merch (= irl digital), come on now, it would be literally one phone call away. otherwise what the fuck is Dan’s management doing? website updates take 5 minutes.

you know, both GANP and hometown showdown were shit though. every time Dan tries to act and do something he clearly doesn’t like, it turns out to be the most disingenuous thing. i’m glad we know that he didn’t want to do it. i didn’t like the concepts anyway. it’s strange to throw Dan into something like that (and Phil as well). it’s so performative. and it felt like manipulation. YouTube wanted something from Dan and since Dan also wanted something from YouTube they had to come to agreement. Dan did what they asked for and YouTube didn’t. bitter.

ii Asia: them losing money in Manila doesn’t mean they didn’t make profit in Asia. we don’t know how much they lost and how much they got from other shows. in Singapore they got invited to formula 1, but i didn’t find anything about the losses (if anyone remembers something, please, throw it at me).

“I know he's got investors for this one which he was always going to need” - hold up, wait a minute :)) you know or you assume? because, for example, i don’t know that for a fact but it would be a logical assumption to make. so do you know something?

i don’t remember any mentions about ii being self-funded. but i do remember Rize banner missing at some m&gs. idk if that was accidental or because there was a contract only for specific places (thus not all shows were paid for by Rize money). Rize was made by YouNow, so they had enough money to fund the tour imo. were there “virtual goods” in Rize as well? now i wonder if we were sponsoring ii all that time by buying stickers or whatever 😂 (the answer is yes anyway).

if Dan goes for another tour i hope he gets a different promoter and sorts shit out with his management. and before the tour fixes irl merch. i know that this promoter is one of the biggest blah blah, but it’s not the only one. if Dan learns something, i hope it’s that he needs smaller venues and fewer shows (like someone said before). fewer shows can be done by smaller promoter. and i hope he thinks his marketing strategy through and through and creates plan B just in case. if he wants to go to Iceland but there are not enough Icelanders in his audience he can try to convince continental Europe to fly over. we’re willing to, he just needs to say a word instead of repeating the same joke 20 times.

[arabellaflynn]

Brief life update: Landlord problem sorted (for now, at least). My support system is awesome. I believe you have all been contacted about repayment, but if I missed anybody, let me know.

I have not bothered to tell my roommates this. I hope they are experiencing unbearable amounts of stress. The Useless Narcissist did eventually cough up his share, but the (Probably Soon-To-Be-Ex-)Wife has given me nothing yet. They can stew.

One of the NPOs I work with threw a birthday party for a friend of a board member back in February. I ran it for them, as I often do. I'm good at being an attractive, friendly person who knows where all the extra chairs are. 

I rather like running these parties. They're full of interesting people that I will almost definitely never see again, so it doesn't much matter what I say to them. The birthday girl was 80, and a semi-retired "spiritual counselor" -- apparently, she was where the priests and rabbis and imams went when they needed to talk through their problems. She described herself as "spiritual krill", which amused me greatly. A bunch of her kids were there, and a grandson who was probably on the spectrum and could not stop talking about airplanes, and a musical theater actor from Manhattan who complained that Cambridge was not drinking hard enough at 2 pm on a Sunday, and a variety of other artists that told as many weird stories as there are feathers on an Amazonian parrot. Her Moroccan cleaning lady made a secondhand appearance by sending a half-sheet cake topped with blue frosting and chocolate-covered strawberries. They told me I should be eating their cake and drinking their wine with them, so I did.

One of the nice things about working in the arts is that if you can still do your job well with a glass of wine in your hand, nobody cares.

The board member who threw the party apparently thought I was great fun, because he got the coordinator to give him my email address so he could ask me where to send a thank you card. Which card, when it arrived, had a $100 check in it. Welp. I was paid to run the party in the first place, mind, but being an attractive friendly person who knows where the chairs are only gets you about $18-20 an hour. 

I've never been told I can't take tips, but I've never asked either -- this one was the biggest I've gotten, but it's not the first. One of the more memorable ones was when I was working box office for a show where a gaggle of kids had come up from New York to perform with Boston locals. One set of parents had failed to buy their tickets before driving up from NYC, and the show sold out. The ticketing software didn't have any way to start a waitlist for shows with late seating, but there are always people who don't turn up, and even if by some miracle everyone made it (they didn't) that theater had bench seating and I was not paid enough to care if they were two people over fire code, so I told the parents to come back in 45 minutes, and told the manager that one couple had to duck out but would be back at intermission. I had no way to sell them a ticket and was fully prepared to sneak them in for free, but the wife did everything short of stomp her husband's foot and hiss, "honey, bribe the usher." He gave me a $20.

The bigger news, though, is a gig I've landed for mid-May. I got an email a couple months ago from one of the orgs I do livestreaming for asking if I could run sound for one of their shows. They had correctly guessed that I knew how to do this, but only because they don't understand the difference between running digital sound for a webinar/class and operating the 32-track analog behemoth they have up in their tech booth -- none of them are in any way technical, that's why they call me. I didn't expect a lot of help from the venue, but I ended up running the pre-show music off my phone, and the board off a random laptop using VLC, which is, uh... let's go with, not industry standard. 

I thought my performance was adequate. Like, the show did happen, more or less as planned. The lighting designer apparently thought I did so well she specifically requested that I run sound for the next, much bigger show she was lighting at that venue. I am, apparently, "the best". I have learned to just say thank you and shut up when people say these things, because it's rude to argue with others over their own subjective opinions, but if that was "the best" I really have to wonder, what kind of unrepentant fuckups had she been saddled with before I came along? 

Anyway, the much bigger show thought I was a perfectly reasonable choice(!!?!?!?!!?!), so I'm now signed on for that. I refuse to half-ass this anymore; if they're going to pay me sound tech rates, I'm actually going to be a sound tech, and do this correctly. Industry standard for this stuff is a piece of software called QLab, which is only available for Mac, and has rental licenses for a totally reasonable $5/day. I am not okay running $1500 of show off a computer that dies if you trip over the power cord, so the battle-scarred MacBook I inherited from a previous roommate has gone back to Apple for a spa weekend and a battery replacement, a surprise expense which I am only able to cover because the same superhero support network has indicated they do not need their loan money back in a hurry. So thank you for that as well! I have about a month to teach myself how to work QLab for real.

I've spent Easter feeding junk food to rats and trying to wrap my brain around the idea that someone thinks it's "totally reasonable" to pay me $50/hr to sit up in the booth and periodically click a large button marked GO. I have to keep reminding myself that all the tech stuff only seems straightforward to me because I have been mucking around with it since I was ten. I had a look at the service manual for the mixer before I tried working it the first time, and at one point it literally says, "This will make more sense if you look at the block diagram," so I suspect a large portion of that hourly rate is there just because this is terrifyingly complicated to other people.

[For the uninitiated, a block diagram is a simplified line drawing depicting the components and connections of an electrical circuit. For something like the mixing board I was dealing with, it's usually close to, but not identical to, the actual schematics. My father has designed custom circuit boards for a living since before I was born, so I'm well familiar with the things. But if you're not I suppose they look a bit like a Mondrian take on the Nazca lines. I probably couldn't troubleshoot a broken mixing deck from the diagram in the back of the manual, but I can follow it well enough to see where all the inputs and outputs are going.]

Still no grant money, not that I expected it to land on Easter. The waiting is the worst. A lot of my problem right now is that I need to raise my freelance rates for a lot of things, but until I get that cushion in place I can't risk losing any of the clients I currently have. Some money is better than no money, but some money is not necessarily enough money, which is the fundamental problem.

from Blogger https://ift.tt/dJH04Rh via IFTTT -------------------- Enjoy my writing? Consider becoming a Patron, subscribing via Kindle, or just toss a little something in my tip jar. Thanks!

[unorthodoxsavvy]

Whumptober Day 6: Proof Of Life

Malcolm woke up in a dark room. He could feel restraints around his arms and legs, effectively tying him to a chair. Not a comfortable one, either.

Malcolm blinked in the dim light and while his eyes started to adjust he noticed a camera facing him. It was a camcorder, and the little viewing window was out and turned towards him. The light on the side was blinking. They were rolling.

Malcolm looked from side to side around him, but there was no one there. The set-up was perfect for a torture dungeon, though. Malcolm had to congratulate the interior design and the wide array of weapons on the surgical table nearby. Someone either had a lot of money to waste or had saved up a long time for this. He'd make sure to pass the compliment along when whoever was supposed to torture him showed up.

Not one to be kept waiting, Malcolm called out a "Hello?"

There was no response from the doorway beyond.

"Hellooooo?" Malcolm called again, slightly more annoyed this time. He was glad whoever had captured him and tied him up seemed to have all day, but he did not. Malcolm was a busy man. He had places to be.

"Can we hurry this up? I have to pee."

Finally Malcolm heard some shuffling from another room.

"Why hello there! Awake, are we?"

Malcolm smiled politely. "I am. Wonderful place you've got here. I can tell you put a lot of hard work into it. It really paid off."

The man emerged from behind a black curtain that was placed in the doorway. He was wearing a large mask and apron, the kind a butcher would wear. It was a smart style.

"Why thank you! I'm glad someone appreciates it!"

Malcolm smiled and nodded.

"Of course. So, what am I in for today? Or is it a surprise?"

"Ooh, a curious one! How exciting. Well, I clue you in a bit. I'm sure, of course, you know who I am-"

Malcolm nodded. He recognized the man now. He hunted and caught serial killers for a living, after all.

"Well, I know you too, so I know your family is very wealthy. I'm hoping some of that money pour back into this very expensive hobby of mine."

"Torture?" Malcolm clarified.

"Yes, torture."

"Is the camera for proof of life or to rewatch the highlights?" Malcolm asked calmly and curiously.

"Both!" the killer smiled behind the mask.

He walked over towards the camera, which was still filming.

"Have you ever thought about livestreaming? I hear Twitch is a dump these days, and YouTube's the place to be. They have better ad revenue splits with their creators. Or TikTok! I think this kind of content would do well in short-form. Maybe like a quick tutorial or something. Maybe a Masterclass. Or do you prefer like the dark web? Bit too mainstream for you?"

The man chuckled. "You talk much. Yes, all too mainstream for me. Going live on dark web, though, not bad idea. Red room, that is what they are called, yeah?"

Malcolm nodded. "Yeah, they are. You've never watched this kind of stuff there yourself?"

The man shook his head. "No, no, no. I get all from movies."

"What's your favorite scary movie?" Malcolm smirked.

"Psycho!"

Malcolm nodded.

"I'm an American Psycho fan myself. Ever heard of Huey Lewis and the News?" Malcolm quoted.

The killer must have missed that title at Blockbuster, because he just nodded.

"Anyway, this is all feeling very Hostel to me, so if you'd like to hurry this along, that'd be great, because I still really have to pee," Malcolm suggested.

"Not hostile at all! You very welcome here!"

Malcolm didn't bother to correct him.

The man in the mask walked over to his table and picked up a drill. He squeezed the power trigger and the drill gave a whirl.

"Oh good! Was worried I was out of battery!"

The man brought over the drill to Malcolm.

"Hello Whitleys!" he addressed the camera from in front of Malcolm behind his mask. "As you see here I have your son. I promise he in very good hands today- hands like a surgeon, yeah? Anyway, I return him to you in mostly one piece if you pay ransom for me. One million American dollar please. Thank you!"

The killer turned back towards Malcolm.

"I go edit that later," he mentioned. Malcolm nodded. He understood completely.

The man squeezed the trigger on the drill again.

"I ask for one million American dollar, but I must confess, I not like much about America. Too much gun violence. I much prefer a drill or an ax. Much more fun. A gun, you know, it just too American. Not as much fun. Prefer to take my time. Make it count. Make it last."

"We also have a raging obesity problem," Malcolm agreed about their fast and throw-away life style. "And a very bad litter problem."

The man shook his head and tutted. "No family values here! Always go, go, go. Work hard. Loose focus on what matters."

"Torture," Malcolm nodded.

"Torture," the man agreed. Then he pressed the drill into Malcolm's knee and pulled the trigger.

[burstingsunrise]

hi molly! i’ve been sitting in front of my computer forever trying to think of all the reasons i love wfttwtaf and nothing is coming up quite right, so i’m just gonna ramble a bit and wing it, if you allow me.

it honestly feels like this album caters to a million different part of myself, and listening to it allows to me sit and bask in those little boxes in my mind and it feels extremely comforting to hear all these thoughts i’ve had before sang back to me in the insanely beautiful way luke does, yknow? like, it’s the way that on paper, these lyrics are both beautiful and devastating, but the way luke brings them to life as a body of work with his voice and the production absolutely blows my mind!!! i don’t think i’ll ever have words for it. i listen a lot to the album from top to finish, and i adore how it closes with comedown, ending on such an hopeful note, bursting sunrise and everything, i’ll probably hold on to how that makes me feel forever.

i also associate a lot of wfttwtaf to the camping trip i was on the week the album was released, so my favourite memory is probably listening to the album at sunset with my friend (which feels crazy that it was exactly a year ago). looking back i realized how much that time in nature with wfttwtaf shaped how i registered and welcomed the album at first, associating it with those big open spaces, warm coloured skies, and the way nature has always made me a lot more in tune with my feelings, so it made the album feel grandiose while also being incredibly intimate, in a way that i hadn’t ever really felt before.

i also loved being a fan during that time, idk exactly what it was about it but it was such an easy and beautiful time for me. listening to the album and chatting with everyone was so much fun. the chaos of never knowing when something was gonna drop and being completely enamoured by his beauty and his mind. it’s something i look back on very fondly and i’m glad we all got to share that together 🥰

emmmm yes you're always allowed to ramble. 💜

i love what you said about the comfort of hearing thoughts you've had sung back at you, and particularly the way luke presents them. he's so so good at conveying authentic emotion through his voice, and especially when he's singing his own thoughts you really feel that coming through in a visceral way.

and comedown! ending on a hopeful note...one of my favorite lyrics on the entire album is light up a darkness i was never meant to climb out of like a bursting sunrise from the deepest sleep (i'm sure you never could've guessed from my blog url and title) because it perfectly acknowledges and validates the dark times without minimizing it or sugarcoating it, acknowledging that it can feel hopeless - but also promising that there is hope for the brightness.

the camping trip vibes sound incredible, i remember you basically being off the grid for release week, and even though being away from all the activity can sometimes make it feel like you're missing things, it sounds like a really special experience being able to just listen to the album in a headspace where you weren't being distracted by the Other Stuff. grandiose while also being incredibly intimate. yeah. that's another really fantastic way of describing the overall vibe of the album.

also: being completely enamoured by his beauty and his mind. god, yeah. we weren't just being bombarded with incredible music, we were also getting interviews and photoshoots and livestreams and it was just like...wow. he is a person that exists! unbelievable and yet somehow true!

[thepetiteninja]

Welcome to 2024

Hello again!

My most recent post was from 4 years ago. And so much had happened since, so I guess it's time for another update. I'm writing this for me who will be reading this entry after a few years, maybe when I remember to dig up my old tumblr account again just because I felt like reminiscing.

So anyway, I'm turning thirty this year. That hasn't sunk yet because more than anything — I'm getting married this year too. It's still to the guy I have been writing about years before. We're turning 9 years this 2024, and are tying the knot this October. He proposed to me two years ago. On top of the Singapore Flyer, 11.11.22. Damn, what a date.

But the past few years weren't all about butterflies and happiness. These past few years were actually some of the worst ones of my life so far. I'm in debt. But fortunately on a good payment plan now that I haven't missed. I risked a really good job to pursue hosting full time — that only lasted for 3 months. Then shifted industries because I wanted to still give myself a chance. And so now I'm still hosting but for e-commerce livestreams. Got promoted twice in a year. I'm now a trainer. But I still do copywriting on the side because it makes good money. At least now I've flipped it up. Doing my passions full time then writing on the side. I'm tired though, to tell you the truth.

Mind-wise, I'm confident. I know what I can bring to the table and what I'm capable of. I don't second guess myself too much now. I still work hard and multi-task. I know my worth. I know my strengths. I learned my lessons well. I've been through difficult times and now I've gained stability. I know I'm ready to fly. In a smarter, more mature way.

Life-wise could be better. Because the wedding is right around the corner, everything I'm earning is being poured to it. So you can say I'm still living paycheck to paycheck after all the great things I take pride on. I'd like to think I've planted a lot of seeds that I'm just waiting to harvest soon. Hopefully the wedding turns out great, so I could finally enjoy the fruits of my labor completely. To be honest tonight, dinner was just a pack of pancit canton and cup noodles. It's petya de peligro and I don't know where to get tomorrow's fare to work. But I'll get by. After a day, salary's gonna come. I really hope it gets so much better soon.

So these things, y'know. It's entirely great but minutely terrifying. And every single time God proves to me that there's guidance from above. You won't believe how many conveniently unexpected blessings I've gotten over the past tumultuous years. I can't even comprehend how I've weathered through all the moments I worried about. But I'm here, sitting on my couch, safe, satiated, typing whatever comes to mind. It's these reflective, peaceful pauses that makes you realize that despite the chaos, I'm actually okay. Barely breathing but pushing on.

I'd like to think future me who would be reading this somehow, someday, would look at me and say: "just wait, it's going to be better". Because I would be saying the same thing to myself who started this blog 10+ years ago. It had gotten so much better. Crazier, but better. I wish future me would say, "babe, we're a millionaire". But more importantly would love her to say, "we still love what we do". No matter what that looks like.

So there. I think that's an ample update about how I am now. And hopefully in a few years tumblr would still be here so I'd be able to read all this again. It's a good self-therapy shit. And also I just missed writing my thoughts like this.

Ok, I'm just rambling now. Until the next update!

[mindrole]

Hi! Guy who asked about Mutei/Azuma and, I mean this in the most respectful way possible because I do not have the databook (unfortunately) so a lot of stuff you said I virtually had no idea about: what the fuck.

(I wish I had more concrete wordings but I'm going to have to read everything again after the initial processing stage of 'what the fuck is the plot again?')

I think I understand now why you love Azuma so much. There's virtually no one that's close to being sane that has worked with Mutei. That sounds like a skill.

The chart you posted feels like it does make sense if you stare at it a while, by the way, even if unfinished - thank you for posting it!

And yes, stabbing someone is very yuri.

would it surprise you if i said there's very little mention of azuma in the databook...!! it's genuinely crumbs strewn about across the series!! and he does not make it easy given he seems to have had the precognition to wipe his name from empyrean, compared to misumi and igarashi who stand to lose much more than him being associated with a cult... though i guess both are so huge they can snuff it out. i would say the most information in the game(s) about azuma is probably in the dlc/hermit room but it is still not that much if at all. interlude is more like, a lot of implied stuff due to the nature of the settings in it but there is an outright mention of him (just a mention).

i got asked about azuma mentions before, but it's based on my memory alone so def not conclusive (it only mentions azuma himself, i didn't talk about indirect stuff like minoru talking about the publishing house for some reason, but eh...)

not only that but i think this is an issue in general, not just with azuma— a LOT of information is stuck on locked accounts and list/follower only stuff... also the fanbox... personally i only got into the series late late 2021 so i missed a lot of that. i only have access to the latest one. some korean fans compiled some stuff for their own ref and i've seen a few of those around but it can only go so far! but yeah there's a huge thing re:the dissemination of information. there is an entire hadal zone down there. there was a livestream where people got to see azuma (and igarashi).... and... and i didnt!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 at least from the descriptions it sounds like he looks very cute ...

though it's not really a big deal, for example a lot of information in the databook and other sources became widely known with the release of stuff like the interlude (and the reports in it), com info and reports, etc... im sure when com comes a lot more stuff will become more widely known! a surprising amount of stuff was setting up for the interlude and com.

either way, you end up having to put stuff together anyway. even outside of out of bounds info, sometimes just rereading over and over i realized there is something i absolutely overlooked or did not notice. there are parts of the interlude i think i have memorized atp because there's something deeply wrong with me. i think though among most things the dlc is what i've reread the least... i should probably revisit it again

i hope there's a fanbox post at the end of the year... 2023 is almost over... i can't take it anymore.... 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[taiblogcomics]

Grim Grinning Ghosts Come Out to Social Media

Hey there, rapping in French. We're as close to Halloween as we'll get without going over, so we might as well do something spooky, right? And I'm doing the spookiest thing I can think of: I'm going out of order and reviewing an issue a little bit ahead. This might be unprecedented! True horror! So yes, if you're reading this in the backlog later, this is issue 11! We'll do issues 9 and 10 next month~

As soon as you see this cover, though, you'll understand why we had to do this one today:

Yeah! Do you see why this is our Halloween episode this year~? Like, come on. This might be one of the best MLP covers we've ever had. Even if you don't like G5 that much (and there's certainly reason not to), you gotta admit you'd be tempted by this cover. This is one that's gonna catch your eye. This honestly brings me back to the good ol' days of Tumblrpon askblogs, when every other blog had some kind of spooky-edgy content (including mine!) that was just like this. Ah, fantastic~

So we're skipping ahead only slightly here, just past the conclusion to the Discord arc. I don't think you need to actually know anything about how that arc ended to read this one though--I hope you don't, because I haven't read it yet either--so we can probably just jump right in. Which we do! Pipp is doing her livestreaming thing, and Zipp is annoyed by it. Their usual sibling dynamic. Particularly, Pipp is thrashing about, agonising over her likes counter, and Zipp is mocking her for being invested in her made-up internet points.

While Izzy explains to Zipp how engagement works (though Zipp is also right in that Pipp shouldn't be chasing likes), Pipp retreats to her room to rant. So the only thing about the Discord adventure you need to know is that actively adventuring is what has been driving up Pipp's view count lately. Now that the adventure is over, folks are unsubscribing because her normal content isn't what they're interested in. This is a little disenheartening, because Pipp puts a lot of stock in being authentic and giving her fans what they want at the same time.

So, to that end, she starts to delve into what I can only describe as creepypasta. It's a legend about the Old Nag, and she shows several posts about her history and how to summon her. Long story short, nopony came to her birthday party, and she will grant a wish to somepony who recreates it perfectly. Pipp thinks it's a really good idea to try and summon this ghost entity she read about on the internet, especially since these videos and posts get lots of likes. Oh boy, somepony's about to get Slenderman'd~

So while the pega-sisters go out shopping for supplies, Zipp expresses her skepticism with this whole plot. Namely, trying to summon a ghost whose motivation is revenge is probably a bad idea. That's why Pipp isn't doing it for the wish, she's giving Naggie the birthday she never got! Yep, and finding Samara/Sadako's body and burying it solved the Ring curse, right~? Ghosts don't follow your mortal logic, and Zipp knows this. She tells Pipp she's missing the point of the story, while Pipp ignores her to poll chat about cake flavours. Now, somepony livestreaming in public, that's way scarier than any ghost~

Despite Izzy and Sunny being equally skeptical, the plan commences, and we get the next scene in "Paranormal Activity" filter. It is genuinely a ritual, as they offer the completed plushie of Old Naggie the chips, light some (birthday) candles, blow them out around the plush, and so forth. And this is just the first night of three! Pipp has a whole script she's working from (thus making her ghost show barely better than any on basic cable), but what none of them planned for was a glass suddenly falling off the table. Is the ghost already here~?

Izzy confronts Pipp the next morning, asking her if she really believes in all the ghost stuff. Despite last night's freak-out, she's actually undecided on it all. Izzy then asks her motivations. She does arts and crafts because it makes her happy, and thought it was the same with Pipp's livestreams. But if she doesn't really believe in the ghost stuff and she's only doing it to get more followers, is it really making her happy? Aren't they really just baiting Naggie, like the ponies who ditched her party did? "Except they were mean and I'm not!" Pipp replies in an angry tone of voice. See this? This is my cocked eyebrow of skepticism~

Night two! This involves recreating the party itself to invite Naggie in, which is always a good thing to do with a supernatural creature. The lights go out during the filming, causing everypony to freak out. When they come back, Pipp has dropped her Paranormal Activity filter, and is instead chatting about some of the anecdotes posted online about what to expect during night two. But none of it prepares them when the plush they made suddenly begins floating in the background and flies over to attack Izzy. Jumpscare!!

Next morning, Pipp has to really reassure Izzy to get her to come back for the final night. Which she does! Not much else to say, so they move on to the third night. The ol' green filter is back in place, and they're now eating of the cake in order to "consume the curse". Zipp feels ill from too much cake and excuses herself. As the other three wait and Izzy keeps a wary eye out for any rogue plush toys, the lights go out again--and when they come back, a looming specter of a mare with flowing hair and tattered clothing looms over them!

The ponies scatter, with Pipp retreating to her closet, terrifiedly confessing with her remaining followers. She's terrified, but in those terrified moments… she's had an epiphany. An e-Pipp-phany, if you will. By chasing likes and seeking adventure, she may have gotten involved in something dangerous. But worse, she exploited somepony else for entertainment, which makes her really no better than those ponies who ditched Ol' Naggie on her birthday. Pipp apologises to her viewers, and then exits the closet to go apologise to Naggie as well.

Pipp steps out to make her wish: that Naggie had gotten a nice birthday party like she deserved in the first place. The ghost appears as she begins her apology, somewhat awkwardly thanking her in an ethereal voice with a southern twang. She tries to slip out while Pipp is still apologising, which is when Pipp notices the clothes aren't quite as tattered as she thought. Indeed, they're actually made from paper streamers. And as the ghost flees, Pipp pounces, tearing the dress off and knocking her wig aside--for it is a wig, you see~

Yep, the ghost was Zipp all along. Hence why she had to duck out after eating the cake. Pipp is so furious that Zipp doesn't even get a chance to apologise until the next morning, while they're packing up the seance stuff to take back to Hitch's house. I guess he got too scared on the cover and ducked out for the rest of the issue. Once again, the long and short of it is that Zipp felt like a jerk after making fun of Pipp's social media stuff. But when she heard the backstory on the Old Nag, it just made her sad, even more so when Pipp started making it all about her.

Both ponies kind of learned their lesson, and on the way to Hitch's, they get some ice cream. Pipp's followers also forgave her, thinking they were doing a found-footage kind of thing. Pipp casually mentions Hitch has all this stuff because he started a cold-case true crime podcast (see next issue). Zipp also wonders if it's okay to eat this ice cream, since it resembles their dog, Cloudpuff. He has his own line of sweets, it turns out, and Pipp pulls out her phone to show Zipp proof that it's okay to eat his likeness, since he'd eat theirs. I'm glad we don't see those photos.

To close out the issue, the sisters have decided to respect each other by trying out each other's interests. Zipp is really bad at blogging, struggling with the keyboard. As she posts a photo, though, she catches a mysterious face in the background. When she looks up, the same face is smiling at her, only to disappear when Pipp looks over. Pipp asks her to knock it off with trying to scare her, already having already learned her lesson. She's ready to go try one of Zipp's extreme sports. And as they leave, the image on the laptop shows the ghost of Naggie enjoying a slice of cake…

This is, honestly, a pretty great issue. It's got some decent lessons that are also fairly applicable to modern life. And it's a well-constructed urban legend/creepypasta to boot. Honestly, the G5 comic seems to do really well when they lean into the spooks. (Pipp even lampshades this, saying she hasn't done numbers online since that selfie with Lightning Rod.) And even if the main story doesn't grab you, you can at least look at the cover for a while. And imagine that thing behind you. And maybe that will grab you~

Happy Halloween~

[leporidze]

Guys we were like, 600K viewers watching our favourite streamers trying to defend the flag™️ on r/place..... France didn't use any bots, only that one plug-in, shared by streamers, that allow you to know where to place the tiles exactly to make a collective pixel-art every five minutes. all streamers were on the same vocal call while livestreaming to make up a relay strategy that could only work with the help of their viewers and it was one hell of a giant collective shitstorm

take it from an insider: we used no bots. we just go crazy when it comes to our fav livestreamers and make up colossal amounts of money for charity each year thanks to streamers and their viewers. I ain't kidding anyone, we do have a really really REALLY BIG thing going out with livestreams. we just go apeshit about our fav streamers, and got a little bit too carried away when Spanish and American streamers united to try and put it down

[littleoddwriter]

HELLO IT IS I, the great shy neighbor anon!! I have another request for our boy Eddie.

Okay so I was thinking childhood best friends with a male reader smut!

Maybe Edward reveals to him he’s the Riddler, where the reader is like “Holy shit big fan, cant believe its my bestie.” and they work on little things together, maybe holding each others hand through stuff. Maybe they’re obsessed with each other IDK.

After all this v obvious pining, they get a little frisky and s//x happens :)!

Just two idiots so in love doing silly devious things 🙏🙏

Again hopefully this makes sense.

Always Together | Edward Nashton/The Riddler x Male!Reader | N/SFW (18+)

Hey there!!! Thanks so much for the request, it made sense to me, and I really hope you like what I've done with it! :') <3

summary; See above. Minors DNI.

notes; (Cis) Male!Reader; Top!Reader; Bottom!Riddler; Childhood Best Friends; Past Trauma; Getting Together; Friends to Lovers; First Time; Anal Sex; Unsafe Sex; Fluff and Smut.

Edward and you have been friends ever since you could remember. You grew up in the orphanage together, being handed from one foster family to the next, until you both eventually aged out of the system. When you had to leave the hell-hole that was Gotham’s orphanage, Eddie and you moved in together so you could afford something and also to simply stay together. Neither of you had wanted to be alone just yet.

But after a couple of years, you both decided that it would be nice to have an apartment all to yourselves and searched for your own. After spending your entire lives holed up with nearly thirty other kids in just one room and then staying with one another took a toll on both of you. It was for the best. And you stayed in contact, meeting quite regularly, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. 

But you missed Ed a lot and it was hard for you to be without him. Nonetheless, you also had to admit that having your own apartment was good for you, it let you explore yourself better, as you got a perspective of what you wanted in life and who you really were underneath all this trauma without letting it weigh you down every day. Only being alone allowed that for you. Eddie always reminded you of the orphanage. You both did that for one another. It wasn’t good. Both of you suffered from it. 

By the sounds of it, he’d been better on his own, too. He had a good job, a nice apartment, goals, hopes and dreams. And you were still a part of everything, which was something you secretly cared about the most. 

______

When you came together again years later, the Riddler had just started out. You watched all of his livestreams. You considered yourself quite a fan of this man, who was seeking to uncover the truth about Gotham, something you were all for, after what you, Ed and all those other kids have been through. 

Sitting beside Eddie on your bed, you two had been updating each other on how things have been since you’ve last seen each other about two weeks ago. You thought that while he was talking that there was something he tried not to voice. You couldn’t put your finger on it, though. Did something happen that he didn’t want to tell you? It worried you that he often skirted around something when he spoke about what he’s been up to. It happened a lot more often lately, not just now.

“Hey, Eddie,” you said, looking at him in concern. He looked back at you, raising an eyebrow. “I was wondering if there’s something you’re hiding from me? Like, I just have this feeling that you are because of the way you’ve been talking about what you’ve been up to recently, you know? I’m worried, is all.”

Edward looked like a deer in headlights. That only worried you more. So he was indeed hiding something from you.

“Have you heard about the Riddler?” he asked, basically blurting it out after a few moments of silence passed and you had thought he was going to pretend it was nothing.

Taken aback, you nodded.

“I’m- I am the Riddler,” Eddie admitted, twisting the bed sheet between his fingers nervously, "Uh- I didn’t mean to worry you, Y/N. I just didn't know how to tell you."

Processing this information, you just looked at him for a moment before breaking out into a huge grin. 

“I’m actually a big fan of his! Can’t believe it’s you, Eddie. Well, I kinda can, to be fair. But still! This is so cool! My best friend is the Riddler!” You couldn’t hide your excitement if you tried.

Edward smiled, looking shocked, but pleased. “Oh, thank God,” he breathed.

“That kinda explains why there were never any streams when you were with me. And here I was always worried I’d miss one!” you chuckled heartily. 

“I’m relieved that you are a fan of this persona I created. I was scared to tell you. I didn’t want you to think I’m some kind of freak and for you to leave me.” 

“Never. We’ve always been together, Eddie. I couldn’t ever leave you.” You both smiled at each other. Ed’s cheeks were tinted pink and your own face grew a bit hot. 

After a short moment of silence, you started bombarding Edward with questions about the Riddler. And because he knew he could trust you, he told you everything you wanted to know. As a result, you only fell deeper in love with him - something you had realised a while ago, but doubted you were ever going to tell him.

______

Ever since, he’s invited you over when he was going to stream so you could sit out of frame and watch him like this. Your presence calmed him down, he’s told you. He wanted you there. And it meant the world to you that he did.

At some point, you started holding his hand just out of the camera’s view. It only started because one time he was feeling anxious, as he’d been triggered before and flashbacks kept on coming, ones you only knew too well. You had done your best to calm him down before his stream, which he refused to postpone, but it hadn’t been enough. So, you ended up with his hand in yours, grounding him that way throughout. And somehow, that has just become your thing, then.

What honoured you the most, though, was when he started explaining his plans to you in more detail, asked for your opinion, and eventually proposed that you help him out with some things. Of course you did. You wanted to spend every second with him. You also wanted to help him achieve his goals. It was a win-win situation, really.

Throughout all this, you two have grown even closer, which you had thought to be almost impossible, but you’d been proven wrong once again. Your feelings for him only intensified, naturally, and by now you were pretty certain that you weren’t simply in love with Edward. No, you were absolutely obsessed with him. And in turn, you started to feel like the same was true for him. You hoped so, at least.

Because by now it seemed to be getting a little ridiculous. After all, you not only held his hand during streams anymore, but just whenever it fit you both. You kissed his cheek. You two cuddled with each other. You never spent any time with somebody else anymore, only one another. And it was slowly killing you. You just wanted him to be yours and vice versa. You wanted to be exclusive. You wanted to love him openly and unashamedly.

Apparently you’ve been heard, though, when a while later, you were cuddling in his bed and you leaned up  to kiss his cheek, just because you felt the need to, and Eddie turned his head, capturing your lips in a surprise kiss. You both froze for a split second, but then you started to kiss each other in earnest. 

When you broke it at last to catch your breath, you looked at one another in wonder. 

“Fuck, I want you so bad,” you murmured, unable to keep it inside.

“Me, too,” Edward responded quite instantly.

“Should we… Do you want to-?” You didn’t know how to ask if he wanted to have sex with you right now, but he seemed to understand you.

“Yes! I’d like that. Um-” Ed’s face turned completely red. Both of you chuckled at how awkward you two were. Neither of you had ever expected this to happen.

“We don’t have to go all the way. We’ve got all the time in the world, right?” you tried to lighten the tension that settled around you two.

“We do,” he whispered. Then, he leaned in and kissed you again. 

Sighing into it, you opened your mouth and he mirrored you. You slipped in your tongue, licking into his mouth to explore it. He moaned in response and his hands around your middle tightened. 

Pushing him back down on the mattress, you got on top of him, between his legs, never once breaking the kiss. Your growing erections pushed against each other, causing you both to moan. 

“What do you want to happen now?” you asked, out of breath.

Edward swallowed thickly, looking embarrassed as he averted his gaze before he answered, “I’d like you to fuck me.”

“I can do that,” you grinned, pecking his lips. “Where’s the lube?”

He pointed at his bedside table, “First drawer.”

Opening it, you took out the bottle of lube and put it on the bed, next to Ed’s head. Then, you took off your own shirt and grabbed the hem of Edward’s, silently asking to pull it off of him. He simply nodded, sitting up slightly and raising his arms to help you.

While you were unbuttoning your pants and sliding them down along with your underwear, you kissed down Eddie’s lips, neck, collarbone and chest to his nipples, taking each one into your mouth and swirling your tongue over it. He made the most beautiful noises as you did. You wanted to know what else you could elicit from him the further you went.

To fully take your pants, underwear and socks off, though, you had to stop and get up for a second. Ed looked at you with clear admiration on his face. Smiling at him, you felt your face grow hot again. This was what you’d been dreaming of for so long.

Back on the bed, you kneeled between his legs and took off the rest of his clothes as well. Both fully naked now, you let your eyes and hands roam over Ed before you finally took his hard cock into your hands. Groaning softly, his hips twitched. 

“You have had sex like this before, right? We never talked about that,” you asked after a short moment.

“Well, no,” he answered, blushing furiously, “but, uh, I’ve used toys on myself.”

“Okay, that’s fair enough, Eddie. Just wanted to make sure you know what’s gonna happen,” you told him gently, stroking your hands over his thighs lovingly.

When he nodded, you took the bottle of lube into your hands and poured some over your fingers. You took your time preparing him, sliding your digits in and out slowly and letting him relax around them. When you could have entered a fourth finger, you pulled out and spread more lube on your cock.

“Ready?” you inquired, stroking your cock.

“Yes,” Eddie whispered, nodding for emphasis. 

Then, you slowly started entering him bit by bit until you were fully inside. Both of you moaned when your hips met his. You moved in and out of him shallowly at first, careful to let him get used to it and not bring him discomfort beyond what was normal for the beginning. Once he demanded for you to go harder, you complied, though. 

“Feels good?” you asked, breathing heavily as you kept thrusting into him steadily.

Nodding, Eddie moaned, “Yeah, fuck- yes, feels good, Y/N!”

“You make the best sounds, Eddie baby, you know that?” You drove further into him, slamming into his prostate to prove your point when he groaned loudly in surprise and pleasure, nearly shouting.

“God, fuck, please, make me come,” Ed whined after a couple more thrusts that stimulated his prostate. When you looked him in the eyes, they were shining with unshed tears. Oh, he was so gorgeous.

Taking the lube back into your hands, you poured some over your hand. And then you started stroking him in time with your thrusts, making him come not long after. He was moaning, arching his back and coming all over his stomach and your hand. 

The way he clenched around you almost made it difficult for you to continue to thrust into him, but the tightness also caused your orgasm to approach quickly. Thus, you followed him only a few moments later, coming deep inside of him. 

Slipping out of him, you laid down beside Eddie. Both of you were panting, drenched in sweat, and cum in Ed’s case. 

“Oh, that was a lot better than I had expected,” Edward sighed, smiling tiredly. 

Grinning, you put your clean hand on his chest and let it rest there, “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. I did, too. This is all I’ve ever wanted. You know, us. Together like this.”

“Yeah, me too. I wish I had said something sooner, though,” he said, smiling ruefully.

“I hear ya. But better now than not at all,” you told him.

Scooting over a bit, you leaned your head on Ed’s shoulder and relished in this moment of absolute content. You felt at ease and, most of all, happy. You could barely believe this had really happened. But it had. 

“I love you,” you both said at the exact same time, making each other laugh. 

This was exactly how things were supposed to be, you knew.

[theminecraftbee]

hermitcraft knowledge for new fans that I feel like needs to be stated more often: the hermitcraft recap exists, is very good, and you should watch it!

the recap is a show run by zloyxp and pixlriffs on this channel. episodes are between 10 and 20 minutes and come out on sunday. they cover the previous week, from saturday to friday (they take the day before the episode comes out to write and then come out on sunday, so those days get covered in the next week). and they cover every hermit. just… all of them! not sure what someone’s done this week? don’t worry! the recap’s got you covered. the one thing they don’t cover is livestreams, but hermits don’t do important things on stream. if they do, it ends up in someone’s video. (plus, as much as the recap doesn’t cover livestreams, I have seen them mention the events of an hhh or similar if it drastically changes the hermitcraft landscape in some way, so you don’t actually miss important stuff.)

thanks to the recap there is literally no good reason to try to watch everyone. yes all the hermits are good, but zloy and pixlriffs already watch everyone for you and that’s like, their whole thing. most people don’t have time for that during the day, there are 26 hermits putting out episodes! instead you can watch your favorites, not burn out, and enjoy the recap. you’ll know what’s going on in enough detail to follow anything that happens.

BUT WAIT. there are more benefits to watching the recap than that! for one, it’s very funny. zloyxp, the writer, is a very funny person who writes very funny jokes into the script. it’s a funny enough show that even if I’ve had a week where I’ve watched too much hermitcraft and basically already know everything, I watch the recap, because I genuinely enjoy their sense of humor.

in addition, they’re really good at explaining things that may have gotten confusing in a concise way. for example, putting together the prank war timeline before the civil war in season 6, a thing that they were vital for! or, just this past week, neatly summarizing the explosion of megacorps on the server, a thing that definitely isn’t getting out of hand! with their help following big, multi-person events is much easier, because, as they watch everything, they put the timeline together clearer than you probably can on your own.

also also! the recap talks about how they hope you can find a new favorite hermit through them, and it works. new hermitcraft viewer, intimidated by the whitelist and unsure of where to start? watch the recap! you’ll get a good sense of what everyone’s build style is, who they tend to interact with, and what shenanigans they’re up to. from there, you can find a hermit you want to watch. it’s how I found cubfan, and cubfan is now definitely one of my favorite hermits! if just watching the recap alone isn’t enough, though, they did a quiz last season on their channel that you could follow to find their recommended hermit. it doesn’t include the two new to season 8, gem and pearl, but it’s a great place to go as well.

even more: they have an official subtitler as a part of the team now! that’s right: manual subtitles for every episode of the recap! as I don’t personally use subtitles, I don’t know exactly when they come out (with the video or afterwards by a little bit). however, I do know that manually written english subtitles are a lot of work and are very useful! you can catch up on hermitcraft accessibly with the help of the subtitles, and personally I think that’s fantastic!

finally, pixlriffs is very voice. that’s my final point; he is very voice.

in conclusion: we stan the recap. there are many benefits to watching them and you should know they exist. appreciate them or die by my blade.

[charlie-rulerofhell]

An interview with Måneskin: “It's not about out bodies, it's about our music”

Heyo, I'm back with another translation. This time the article is from the German Rolling Stone website who met with Måneskin after their TikTok performance at the Schwuz, Berlin, and posted the interview yesterday. Again there were some interesting questions asked (and the pictures they added to the article are quite nice, though severely lacking some Ethan content, but check it out!).

Again, I hope that no one has already gone through the effort and translated it or is currently working on a translation. Also this is an official invitation, if you stumble across any articles or video interviews in German that you would like to have translated just message me and I'll get to it! (or if you just wanna chat about Måneskin, my inbox is always open :))

Have a great day everyone!

Full article under the cut.

-----------------------------

An interview with Måneskin: “It's not about out bodies, it's about our music”

Jose-Luis Amsler

July 6, 2021

Måneskin are just what this generation has been missing. Passionate, corny, and full-on honest. In an interview with Rolling Stones, the ESC winners explain to us why they would never work in a normal job and why the hype for their appearance is sometimes going too far.

Damiano, Victoria, Thomas and Ethan are entering the nearly deserted dance hall, before they wait on stage in a red-blue spotlight. They are wearing glittering fish net tops, black tape across their nipples, leather pants, heels and make up. The camera men who are filming in portrait format (9:16) suitable for TikTok are whirling up the haze of the fog machine.

Måneskin are [in] Berlin to give a TikTok concert. A TikTok livestream of this scale has not been done often – tension is in the air. The four Italians don't know at this point that due to the stream the few people present are not allowed to clap or cheer. In complete silence and with slight uncertainty the four are crossing Neukölln's club Schwuz. A few puzzled glances are exchanged. Finally,  Måneskin are striking the first chord.

Then the rich sound of Ethan's bass drum is tearing through the silence. It's almost as if someone has flicked a switch somewhere. There it is, the rock star presence that is hovering over everything they do, with an ounce of arrogance (in the best sense of the word). Singer Damiano is dancing lasciviously on his heels, and during an especially ecstatic solo guitarist Thomas is throwing himself down on the floor in a way it can only be done by a passionate 20-year-old musician who had never had to worry about the looming doom of an artificial knee joint [for 'passionate' the interview is using the term 'besessen' which means 'possessed', and although I think it's rather supposed to describe the way Thomas is 'possessed / obsessed' with the music, thus passionate for the music, you never know if they didn't mean to say that the way he dances looks 'possessed' … I mean, they might be on to something here ;)]. Around half an hour and about 120 decibel later, Damiano says their goodbyes with an almost shy-sounding “Okay, bye.” After the performance, we do our interview in the Schwuz.

Rolling Stone: It was a little bit weird, right, when you went on stage today?

Damiano: Yeah, that was really strange (laughs). They only told us after the performance that the audience was instructed to stay silent for the stream.

Vic: But at least they weren't silent because we were shit (all laughing). We are slowly getting used to playing without a live audience. I mean we are doing this now for more than a year.

RS: What do you think about these new kinds of concerts such as the TikTok livestream today?

Damiano: Well, at the moment it is the only option to perform anyway, so it's alright. But of course you cannot compare this to a proper concert.

Thomas: But it's pretty cool that so many people can experience our concert live.

Vic: Also we're gonna start touring again soon. Right now we are arranging some festival and gigs. In December we will be touring Italy and afterwards we are planning to go on tour through Europe. But we don't have anything fixed yet, there is just a lot going on at the moment.

“A lot going on”. Quite an understatement considering the recent journey Måneskin has made through the past weeks after their ESC win. Their singles “Beggin'” and “I Wanna Be Your Slave” went through the roof (also thanks to Social Media) and are currently dominating the international charts – lately they were also number one in Germany. There is barely a radio station that isn't playing the band on heavy rotation [would love to know what stations they listen to, have never heard Måneskin played in German radio tbh :( ], and everyone opening Instagram or TikTok these days is flooded by Måneskin content. Every second a new fanpage with the name of 'maneskin_obsession' or 'damianos_slut' is springing up like a (virtual) mushroom. It sounds like a cliche, but Damiano, Vic, Thomas and Ethan became international stars over night.

“Of course it's nice to get compliments. But sometimes they definitely cross a line.” – Damiano David

RS: How has your life as a band changed since your win at the ESC in Rotterdam?

Vic: I think we don't even notice a lot of what's happening. Right after the ESC we went to a studio in the countryside where we made music the whole day long. So at first we didn't realise that so many things were happening all around us – and that we had so many new fans. We're just now beginning to learn what's going on. We were at Sony yesterday, there were so many fans waiting for us. That was crazy.

RS: A large part of the attention you are getting now is about your outer appearance, your style, your attractiveness. Is that getting a little too much sometimes?

Damiano: Of course it's nice to get compliments (laughs). But sometimes they definitely cross a line. Especially when we just talk about our music or about a social or political topic that we care about. In those moments it's just completely inappropriate to reduce us to our appearance. Sure – when I'm posting a half-naked picture of myself on Instagram I know that I will get these kind of comments. And then it's totally fine, I mean in the end I'm posting the picture to show myself. But sometimes it's not the right place for it.

RS: And also you should be allowed to wear what you want without being sexualised, right?

Vic: Yes, absolutely. We are wearing these outfits because we feel good in them, not to put the focus on our bodies. And in general it shouldn't always only be about how you dress. We are musicians – so first and foremost it should be about our music. But I think it will still be a long way until we will reach that point.

“That the boys are wearing make up does not tell you what gender they are attracted to. Those things should never be equated with each other.” – Victoria De Angelis

RS: But still you are sending a message with your style against stereotypical gender roles. I guess it's also not only coincidence that we are in the Schwuz today, which is normally a party location and safe space for the LGBTQ community.

Vic: Yes, that is all part of the positive message that we try to send. We want to give our audience the feeling that they are free. Free to wear whatever they want to wear, be how they want to be and love whom they want to love. It's unbelievable that there is still so much intolerance in our times. That has always been really important to us so we try to talk about these topics. We also believe that the narrow-mindedness of society is an educational problem. When you grow up with people all around you telling you how you should be, you will never feel completely free. The more people are talking about it, the sooner things will change.

RS: Some artists who are advocating for these topics are accused of 'queerbaiting', that they are only pretending to be a certain way to gain more support from the queer community. Have you also been faced with those allegations?

Vic: Yes, a few times. But of course we never pretended to be anything. Some people accuse of us queerbaiting because we look and act the way we do. But that's flawed thinking. We don't believe that clothes are connected to a person's sexuality. That the boys are wearing make up does not tell you what gender they are attracted to. Those two things should never be equated with each other.

RS: This courage for free self expression that you are conveying is mainly lived by our (young) generation through Instagram and the like. What is your relationship to social media?

Damiano: For me it was almost scary at first. The more we grew, the more people were trying to twist all of my words. But over time you start to understand that with more fame you also get more criticism. The happier you look the more hate you will get. It's not only like that for celebrities. If you are brave enough to show the things that make you happy there will always be people that support you, but they are also those that envy you. Of course, this should never lead anyone to not express themselves openly but that's easier said than done.

Vic: We are also trying not to spend too much time on social media. In the end we just try to be honest with our fans and to avoid negativity.

[caption under the picture of Damiano: 'Is already being compared to icons such as David Bowie']

It's actually surprising how little power a win at the ESC holds in most cases. Almost 200 million people are watching this shining spectacle every year – and still, a few months afterwards it is hard to remember who those people were that got covered in confetti during the award ceremony. It's the well-known curse of a casting show that rests on the winning bands. When just next year a new sensation will come to marvel at, how much impact does a win have then? There are exceptions of course, like Lena who is until this day, 10 years after her win in Oslo, a part of the more famous music scene of German pop music. With their charisma, their unusual sound at least for our modern standards, and their contemporary message Måneskin could become such an exception, too.

It's likely also helpful that the band already had a standing in the Italian music scene prior to their ESC participation. Their first album 'Il ballo della vita' already achieved platinum in 2018, three years prior to Sanremo and the ESC. And then there is also the long way that led the four schoolmates to this point that helped them gain the necessary persistence. Because contrary to what some people might want to believe Måneskin are not a phenomenon that has just been deliberately bred to be this way by the entertainment industry for Eurovision.

“I have worked [in a 'normal' job] for a whole month in my entire life – it didn't really end well.” – Damiano David

RS: You were all raised in Rome, the capital of the catholic church. What was it like to start as a young progressive band in such a conservative environment?

Damiano: In the beginning, when we started as buskers, no one gave a damn about us anyways (all laughing). But of course … Once we got a bit bigger there were a few people who had a problem with us. For example when we went to Sanremo, there were quite many people who thought that the way we looked and acted we shouldn't be allowed to represent Italy. They didn't even want to listen to our music first.

Vic: Especially when it comes to appearance and sexuality, Italy is a little more backward than other countries. The church probably also has an influence there. They are often quite conservative of course, so many people grew up with such a [conservative] mindset.

RS: You once said that the song 'In Nome Del Padre' is an answer to exactly those people. What does the song mean to you?

Damiano: Back in the beginning [of our career] we had to deal with a lot of problems. They didn't want to let us play in clubs because we would take too much space as a band or because they didn't like our (fashion) style or because they didn't want to pay us. Italy isn't a good place for bands. Our musical style was also criticised a lot. Many people were telling us: Don't do that [rock music], you won't get popular with that in Italy, you will never achieve anything with it. Of course those comments were hurtful but they were also a good reason for us to continue with what we did. And we turned our sadness into anger. With that song we wanted to tell those people from back then: Fuck off and look at us, we did it!

RS: Did you ever consider working in a nine-to-five job and live a 'normal' life?

Damiano: Nah, not really. For one month in my life I worked [in a 'normal' job] – it didn't end well (all laughing).

Vic: We all made music since we were kids. It's a huge part of us, that we couldn't just ignore. And the most important thing is that you do something that makes you happy. At least that's what we believe. So we started from a young age to put all our time and energy into music.

Thomas: Yeah, exactly. Ever since we were in school together we always made music. That has always been our main focus and it is until today. We play and play and play because it is the only thing that …  

Ethan: … we live for.

Damiano: Music has also something very therapeutic for us. Even when we are in a bad mood or fight with each other – yeah, that happens, too – then all of that is gone the moment we enter the stage. Maybe that's the beautiful thing about music – that it allows you to forget everything else. You're just standing on stage, having fun with your friends.

From most bands you wouldn't buy such a corny love letter to music. Mostly it just sounds like an empty phrase, a well-practiced quotable line. But when there is something that defines Måneskin and that becomes more and more evident during our conversation it's their uncompromising honesty. The four of them are definitely not lacking a sense of humour but they take their music very seriously. Which should not be taken for granted in a generation that has mainly produced sarcastic cloud rappers and has made cynical twitter comedy a national sport. And maybe Måneskin are exactly what this generation was lacking all along.

Still, the four musicians, all in the age of 20 to 22, are also prone to the constant need for self-expression, that has become an intrinsic part of today's life. This does not only reflect in the outfits of the band (always 'on fleek') and their Instagram profiles, but also in their lyrics. Their latest record 'Teatra D'Ira – Vol. 1' shows a clear theme: The album is an ode to individuality, accentuated by fast and hard sounds.

Sometimes this message fitting for a Disney movie [really? guess I have been watching the wrong Disney movies my whole life …] is wrapped in a contrasting loud and forceful packaging, but never so much that it becomes inauthentic or self-caricaturing [note: I'm honestly not entirely sure what they wanted to say with this sentence since it uses a lot of rhetorical devices that could be interpreted in different ways, but I'd say this sounds the most plausible]. And in the end, the thing that makes Måneskin so interesting is their unification of the spirit of this time – between TikTok hedonism and an omnipresent political statement – with the music of past generations.

“When you are twenty, you start to think about what the future will hold.” – Damiano David

RS: Your musical style is often described as classical 70s rock, but in fact there are many different influences in your music. Sometimes you groove almost into funk, sometimes it's more rapping than singing. How did this mixture come to be?

Thomas: It's just that we all have our own individual influences and then we meet somewhere in the middle. And we always try to stay open for experiments.

Ethan: Yes, we are very experimental in our song writing process.

Vic: We also don't want to limit ourselves to what is regarded as typical rock music. If rap fits better at some point then we just add that in. It just happens naturally without us thinking too much about it.

RS: So why was it still rock music in the end?

Vic: Because it's the style that we feel most represented by. But actually we just play the music that we enjoy playing. That's really important to us so that we can show something real on stage. We don't want to pretend to be something that we aren't or mock those people that really enjoy our music. You should always be proud of what you're doing and never fake anything just to sell more records.

RS: Is there something like an Italian rock music scene?

Vic: There are quite a lot of bands – but the most of them are much older than us or they are more going in the direction Indie rock. There isn't really a young rock scene, which we think is a pity. But ever since we got more famous people are telling us that they started listening to rock music because of us or that they bought their first guitar and such. That's incredibly nice!

RS: So you're saying that you also want to show this style of music to a younger generation. And you capture this contrast quite well in the song 'Vent'anni', which is a typical rock ballad but lyrically portrays the thoughts of today's youth. Where did the motivation come from to write that song?

Damiano: With the song I wanted to show that I'm just a normal guy, a really typical 20-year-old. I experience the same things that other people in my age are experiencing, I'm just doing another job than them. Also I wanted to describe this age as a whole because I think it's a really special age. At 20 you start to think about what the future will hold. I think it's one of the most important stages of your life. Since we (the four of us) are all in the same age, I then started to mix our experiences together. In the end the song shows what it means to us to be 20. There is a lot of good things – you are quite carefree and are looking at life enthusiastically. But on the other hand you're too young to do certain things and too old to do others. Some people are treating you like a full-grown adult, but …

Vic: … not entirely.

Damiano: Exactly. It can get pretty frustrating at times. We wanted to show our audience: Hey, we're also just 20 years old, and we're going through the same things as you. We understand you.

RS: Except that you are the ones who are becoming a world-wide phenomenon right now. How do you want to maintain this honesty?

Damiano: I think that we could just reach this point because we have always been authentic – for better or for worse. Also we are just trying to have fun with what we're doing together. That's something special that we don't want to lose. In the end we're just four friends who started to live their dream. It's actually pretty simple. Of course – we go on stage, we get a lot of attention, we give interviews – but when we come back home we're just four friends.

[satorinnie]

[ 6:00 PM ]

suna rintarou x reader

inspired by this tiktok

it was six pm when you came home from work. your friend was absent today so all her workload was given to you and it tired you out a lot. you weren’t some big shot person like your boyfriend who was a volleyball star, rather, you worked in the sports column of a newspaper, and since your friend was absent, you had to look over her parts as well. they weren’t your area of expertise so it took a lot of your time and all you wanted to do was get in your comfy clothes and cuddle with your boyfriend suna in bed.

so when you entered your room you were surprised to see that suna was missing. he would always be waiting in bed for you on fridays because he got to leave his practices early and wanted to spend more time with you. shrugging it off you made your way to the closet and picked out your sweatpants and one of suna’s t-shirts. you loved the way they fit on you and his imbedded smell on them always managed to calm you down.

getting ready you walked back down to search for suna. seeing as he wasn’t in the kitchen nor the living room, you made your way to the garden only to find him lazily laying on the couch with his phone in his hand. smiling at the view you slowly walked near him and made your place on his lap, snuggling your face in his neck, “i missed you rin.” your voice came out muffled.

you felt his lips make contact with your neck as he laid butterfly kisses on the area murmuring a soft “welcome home.” his one arm keeping you in place tightly as the other continued to hold his phone.

“how was your day—hey i’ll close this live if i see one more comment about her you fuckers.” his question was cut off with him complaining about the comments made on you in his live. you hadn’t realized he was on instagram livestream and your cheeks flushed red at the though of people seeing you like this. but then you remembered the comments and paused, you knew what kind of things they said about you.

how he deserved someone better and how you were an unimportant person. how famous models would comment at his pictures about treating him better. at first it hurt you; you let your insecurities get the best of you at some point and told suna about everything about to break up with him. but that day he assured a million times how you were the only girl his eyes saw and that the haters could screw off it they wanted. that night he held you closely as your let the tears fall from your eyes.

but now you were confident. with suna’s reassurance you learned to not heed attention to the comments and ignore them. you realized; they were just jealous of what they couldn’t have, and that was not your problem at all. “it’s alright rin.” you whispered into his ear. about to open his mouth to rebuttal, you cut him off.

“i am fully aware of what you all say about me.” you fully turned around to face the camera, taking the phone from suna’s hand and holding it in yours. “but i don’t give a fuck.” you deadpanned. leaning against suna’s chest, you continued, “because at the end of the day, im the one who gets to sit on his lap. and im the one who he fucks every night he comes home. it’s okay to be jealous. i would be too.” you smiled.

suna’s eyes were on you the entire time, first widened with shock, proud of the confidence you gained, but with each sentence something in him stirred. and as his eyes began to slowly trail down your face to his shirt you were wearing, he took the phone back from you and ended the livestream.

face flushed in realization of what you did, you tried to cover you face, “i—i’m sorry rin. i don’t know what came over me i hope that doesn’t ruin anything—“ he cut you off with an intense kiss while he dropped his phone to cup your face with both hands.

you immediately responded back with the same energy and let your hands find their places in hair as you tugged it roughly to press yourself closer to him. you weren’t expecting him to hold your thighs with his hands as he lifted you up; your legs latching themselves around his hip. breaking the kiss to look at you he smirked, “why don’t we go to the bedroom y/n. after all we didn’t have our daily run did we.”

face now beet red you slapped his chest and hid your face against his neck, his laugh like melodies in your ears as you relished the moment. he continued his way to the bedroom with your body around his like a koala. laying you against the bed, he took his shirt off while looking down at you, “now c’mon you weren’t shy back there, no need to be shy now bunny.”