#and really jazzed to have worked with a bunch of cool artists

[peachy-kun]

Hey, guess who's part of another sticker collab??

I've had the honor of working on stickers for the super cool Unova Sticker Collab hosted by the wonderful @cecilioque, working with a bunch of really cool and talented artists!!

Here's a little preview of the stickers that I worked on:

There's so much good art in this sticker set, so please consider preordering them when they go live this Saturday, 3/9!

Edit: I'm a silly and forgot a link to the main post:

[yuri-is-online]

i’ve got this picture of Yutu being kind of artsy from your description. besides, being an outcast probably means a lot of solo hobbies from no friends. maybe a bonding method for Yutus with a father that is more artistic 👉👈

You have such a good point about being an outcast driving people towards solo hobbies σ(￣、￣=) certain Yutus are more outgoing than others but that does only get you so far.  Of the ones I have written about, Floyd! and Cater! Yutu both had friend circles before coming to Twisted Wonderland, while Ace!, Azul!, and Riddle! Yutu were certifiably friendless.  Bonding between Yutu and a more artistic dad hmmmmm let's see...

notes: they/them used for Yuu, this is part of my fyuuture kid au, you can find an explanation of it here and here, or look at my masterlist for all of the posts.

Vil! Yutu

... really likes to paint and draw, when I first wrote about him his unique magic involved temporarily bringing his paintings to life.  My brother used to dig through old fashion mags when he was teaching himself to draw and I can see Yutu doing the same.  So when he finally gets to see a not tortured version of his father and finds out he is a model on top of being an actor?  He's so eager to learn about all of it, and Vil has got to be thrilled to share.  You know between him and his own dad Vil has got to have a nice collection of vintage designer items he's willing to let Yutu have a look at.  Yutu has drawn his dad a lot, receiving a drawing someone has made for you is already beyond flattering, but when it's from a family member?  Forget the fridge, Vil is getting this framed.  I can also see him maybe commissioning Yutu because he wants to make sure he never under sells his work.  He is a member of the Schoenheit family, he is allowed, nay required to have a great deal of pride in himself.

Cater! Yutu

... likes playing guitar and he loves playing with his dad.  He's not really interested in playing with the other pop music club members, Yutu is a bit shy around his dad's friends.  When he's stressed he likes to play a few songs and sing, something I could see working for Cater too.  While I'm talking about Cater, I don't think he'd make a bunch of magicam posts about his family, just in general.  He uses magicam as a way of maintaining his false happy facade, his want to date Vil comes at least partially from his presence on magicam, some of his real self is on display there sure but a lot of it is exaggerated and fake.  When he has something real he wants to keep it away from the rest of the world, so while his followers absolutely are told he's #taken #blessed they don't know about the details of his relationship.  At least not if it's a healthy one.

Jade! Yutu

... is someone I haven't written about before but he is also very into music, just not jazz music.  Not that he hates jazz, he's just stuck in that teenage phase of refusing to admit the things his dad likes are cool, something Jade reasonably “sniffles” about but that's not to say music isn't a bonding point for them.  He also plays bass, just an electric not an upright one, and Jade enjoys listening to Yutu play.  He's very supportive and surprisingly soft in his praise for someone who just got done listening to his kid scream out a punk rock song.  As long as Yutu is willing to do some hiking with him (which he is) then he has no real problem with what his kid likes, if anything I can see Jade enjoying their differences.  Life is boring if everyone is the same.

Rook! Yutu

I've been thinking about Rook, just as a character recently and one of those things that's been stuck in my mind is that he was very shy as a child.  To keep this from becoming just general information about Rook! Yutu, unlike his father Yutu never got over his shyness, so a lot of their bonding revolves around Rook encouraging Yutu to see the beauty in himself.  He books tickets to shows, symphonies, and ballets in advance so he can make sure Yutu knows when they are going out and can prepare himself to be seen in public.  They plan their outfits together in advance, look up information about the company and what they are going to see so they can appreciate the art just that much more.  On the day of Rook makes sure to kiss Yuu goodbye,  and promises to come home safe.  But not to worry, he always has Yutu help him pick out a bouquet of flowers to bring back for you.  (Unless you're allergic to pollen in which case he'll bring home something else.)

[canmom]

Annecy 2025 - Lundi

I'm gonna write really briefly here bc the lack of sleep is catching up to me. Just notes for a more full writeup later.

holy fucking shit Shinya Ohira

I saw the short films block containing Shinya Ohira's new film for the Star Wars Visions collection! Whatever reservations I have about the Mouse, Ohira (and DavidPro) somehow outdid themselves again, a dying stormtrooper's fever dream of flowing images set to waves of jazz that somehow becomes a symbol of the whole weight of this whole ridiculous franchise and its stock of imagery, but also it's kinda Gundam Thunderbolt innit, except even more so somehow. The other films in the block were also very solid, with the delightfully deranged 9 Million Colours about the romance between a murderous pistol shrimp and a blind porpoise a particular standout.

VR is still alive!!!

I watched a bunch of VR works! I wrote about them on Bluesky so I'll just link the thread for now, pending a proper writeup of all the VR. With a bit of luck I'll get into the big Gundam one tomorrow, but what I've seen so far has been quite varied and already a lot stronger than previous year.

the most perplexing heterosexual fish film I've seen since lu over the wall

Studio 4°C are back with another lavish film about sea creatures, titled ChaO! Unfortunately it's... kinda disappointing. Weird mashup of a fated romance and arranged marriage plot, which despite all the effort they spend animating the girl, kind of forgets to give her a personality outside of being the boy's devoted girlfriend and remembering some shit he said as a kid. This relationship enables peace between humans and merpeople and also big profit for our boy's boss... The tension of having all that weight on a relationship is... mostly played for jokes as the two grow closer, and overall it feels like the ghost of Shinzo Abe is hiding behind the screen somewhere. The character designs span a wild range of highly caricatured bobble head guys to only mildly caricatured, which is sometimes a little jarring, though it is at least a very beautiful and colourful film with some extraordinary sequences. If only it had a story worthy of them!

Hungarian short films - anima verité

Hungarian animation is the theme this year and I made it to the 'anima verité' block which focuses on something like animations with a grounded setting, documentary aspect, or social commentary, inspired by a particular Hungarian director's use of the term (need to remind myself who the curator said that was). Unfortunately my lack of sleep was really catching up with me at this point so I didn't appreciate them as much as I'd like. There was a fun one where the people of an apartment block all have a good shout, and an interesting one that animated interview footage of kids talking about their understanding of history during the Leninist period, plus that cool fppov one about a fly we covered on Animation Night.

student films still kick ass

The non-reservation queues are a bloodbath this year, and I screwed up on making my reservation for Planétes (aka something like Dandelion Odyssey) so that's for tomorrow... but I did manage to get into one last student films block! Too late to write on depth, but body stuff was a strong theme this year, represented vividly especially in the films from Japan. The last film is about an exhausted mother trying to take care of her disabled son while getting fucked around by the government and if you thought that sounds very British, you'd be right - it had some interesting and confident stylejank in both the 2D and the 3D. I should check out more of the artist's work.

OK, that's all I've got time for tonight, next film in like 8 hours lol

[yes-i-write-fanfiction]

Hello I just had a funny daydream how would tfa crew react to finding out the bee is in a band on Cybertron and they find out by going to a club were bee band is performing and bee a bit embarrassed about it and Elita gard two 😀 please 🙏

-Optimus is surprised since Bumblebee never mentioned being in a band before. He also wouldn't expect Bee to be able to keep anything a secret. But otherwise he can kinda see it? Bumblebee has always been someone that longs to be in the centre of attention and being in a band would certainly achieve just that. Interested in why Bee kept it a secret and hopes that he will have more trust in him in the future since there's absolutely no need to feel embarrassed about it.

-Now, Ratchet doesn't really listen to modern music, he doesn't think they make anything good is nowadays. But he'll still try and listen to Bumblebee's music, at least in secret. He's just curious, ok? Acts like he's not interested in Bee's musical career but secretly cheers him on and supports him.

-As an artist himself, Bulkhead is super hyped that Bumblebee also has similar interests. Thinks it's really cool as well! Bulkhead wants to support his friend and feels just a little hurt that Bee didn't trust him enough to tell him about this part of him. Really wants to meet the rest of the band too since if they are friends with Bumblebee then he's sure they're nice bots!

-Prowl is mostly just surprised that Bee hadn't old anyone in the team about this before. It sure sounds like something Bumblebee would brag about. Does however makes sense that Bee would be embarrassed, not that there really was any reason for him to be. He was probably worried about the team not approving or maybe even embarrassing him in front of his band-mates.

-While Ultra Magnus doesn't really care about what autobots do on their free time (as long as it's legal) he is secretly happy that someone is doing something creative. Cybertron has been lacking in the arts for some time now and maybe this is a sign that a new era of artists and musicians are approaching.

-You know Sentinel is making fun of Bumblebee. It's not that being in a band is in itself lame but because it's Bee then it is. Ridicules him for it and asks if he's as bad a musician as he is an autobot.

-Jazz totally digs it! He compliments Bumblebee for being a creative spark and asks a bunch of questions out of genuine interest. Encourages Bee to keep up the good work and ignore the haters (*cough*Sentinel*cough*).

-Jetstorm and Jetfire thinks it's cool! Being on stage, singing and playing music to an adoring crowd? That's neat! They also want to start a band now! A duo! It's just that, uhm, they don't know how to actually start. Please Bumblebee, help them!

[princess-glassred]

Where tf you be getting your ideas from? I genuinely love your mind. It be the people like you who put out the most magnificent reads with 250,000+ words and a plot that goes crazy with a little taste of angst, joy, humor and gut dropping chapter endings. I’m not even lying- you can be more than AO3 and IT, your mind is something strange man. And that’s a gift.

Oh my god this is beyond sweet of you to say. this is so kind, i surely don't deserve that kinda praise, but i am very flattered.

To answer your insanely sweet question, my ideas are often a frankensteined version of various things that have inspired me or that i just happened to think about one day. I spend a lot of time in my own head day dreaming about stuff since im unemployed and live in the middle of nowhere, and ive been doing that for such a long time ive gotten very good at coming up with ideas. One time i couldn't figure out what direction i wanted my story to go into and so i asked a friend for help, but they just kinda shrugged at me and didnt know what to say so i went "fine ill do it myself" and i just magically got the perfect idea like 2 seconds after. I have non it related projects in the works, i got an analog horror series i wanna make and some projects for eddsworld cause thats my other fandom, so i dont just make IT aus all the time if ur worried about that.

I think if you're asking what inspires me to make the stuff i do it's really a bunch of different things depending on what i'm doing, im my head IT is more like a sitcom with a reoccuring cast of characters as opposed to the gritty horror novel it actually is, and that stems from my love of sitcom writing. I adore sitcom plots and tropes, so i often try to write about the losers going through some of my favorite ones, you just use whatever the idea is as a baseline and develop it from. I think the reason i like sitcoms is the same reason i like aus, you have the same formula everytime but you get to develop it in different ways and elevate the concept to something new. Every sitcom has a birthday episode but you can use that to create something genuinely new and fun, the same way that every au has (insert blorbo here) but you can put him in so many situations that takes the character to a new height.

For my darker stuff it's born out of my love for things like tales from the crypt, creepshow, and the haunting hour, i genuinely love cautionary tales and horror stories with deeper themes, so i have no qualms writing about the losers doing horrible stuff, like ben eating people. This also extends to my more sad angst stuff, which i do like to write but not as much as horror stuff or sitcom stuff but it's fun and theres a big overlap between them. Comedy and drama are the two sides of theatre and all that jazz.

The secret to writing a good story or making good art is to take elements from the things you love and let that influence what you make until you've come out with something totally new. I do this all the time, like my ben hanscom cannibal au is based off of a few different things, the quarry, various songs i like, evillous chronicles, ect. But after a while your brain starts working and before you know youve got original story beats and stuff created from just a few scraps of inspo. There's no shame in creating something out of something else, every artist is just a hodepodge of the people who made them want to be an artist. I mean im a huge fan of cinderella adaptations because they do just what i described, no two are a 100% alike and theyre so interesting to compare.

Sometimes i'll watch a movie and be like "this is a cool idea for a film but i hate everything about it, ill take it and make something new put of it" and other times some real thing will happen to me and ill find a way to inject it into my story- sometimes i wouldnt have even made an au if i didnt accidentally stumble upon something and think "what if". I did an au once based off the hot chick which is a terrible movie made by a transphobe and i made an actually good and funny au out of it, inspiration comes from anywhere and you can do basically anything with it. The lego movie is a wonderful example of this! No bad ideas, just bad executions. :).

I guess the main thing that inspires me above all else is just the need to see unique characters put in different situations, i like to explore all the possibilties of "what if they did this" or "what if they did that" and i dont half ass any of my aus unless theyre quick joke ones. Most of em have lots of time and effort put in the nobody would ever notice. I have an Eddsworld x IT au that i wrote a fucking GIGANTIC fic for, and i spent so long mulding over every little detail to make that fic feel like an IT was just taking place in the eddsworld universe. Every character was an eddsworld character, even if i had to dig for the most obscure background character ever. Everything was an eddsworld reference, even id it was just replacing a doll with a toy monkey, if i didn't pack that fucker full of eddsworld i wouldn't be half the fic writer i am. Most of my aus could have their own fucking trivia section i put so much sauce in em, it's the little details.

I've always been a deeply creative person, and very detail orientated, i play the sims, i played with dolls until i was 14, sometimes when i go somewhere in public ill pretend im in a castle and walk around. So coming up with situations to put characters in and all sorts of storylines is basically my whole thing.

So yeah, if i had to answer where i get my ideas it's just kinda... maladaptive daydreams mixed with media i like and an overwhelming desire to see cool characters be put in situations. You'd be suprised how far you can get if you just ask "what if?". Im sorry if that's not a super satisfactory answer, but id probably have a more complex answer if we were talking about like a specific au, lile if this was my fairytale au i would have like specific inspos to cite. As it stands its kinda vaugue since i write about pretty much everything and anything about any character. Like i said, my favorite things to write are horror stuff, teen dramas, and sitcom plots, so that alone should tell you how all over the place my style is.

Thank you for the question, sorry for the long rambly answer. <3 i love making stuff for this blog and for all of you guys, its one of my reasons for living! 😘. Trust me, even if you think i can do better, aus are one of my fav things to make and i wouldnt trade it for the world.

[whatyourusherthinks]

Fly Me To The Moon (2024) Review

I was super excited for this movie actually! Even though the marketing was all over the place, it was really good marketing. The poster we had was animated and I just really liked it. I'm very disappointed I couldn't find the GIF of it anywhere online. Anyway, looked funny, it was a historical piece about the Moon Landing, and it the trailer song was Hold On I'm Coming by Chuck Jackson and Maxine Brown.

Roan I thought this this movie was about bugs going to the moon. ...What? What the hell are you talking about Buggnutz? Hang on let me Google some stuff....

Buggnutz you're fired. You don't pay me. I do it for the love of the craft.

What's the Movie About?

Scarlett Johansson plays an advertisement agent with a troubled past brought on by a shady Woody Harrelson to advertise/fake the Moon Landing. Channing Tatum is the landing director of NASA with a troubled past who butts heads with ScarJo before they both fall in love.

What I Like.

The comedy of this movie is amazing. I love quick-witted humor and when jokes are told back-to-back-to-back. It encourages multiple watches and when the jokes are funny and the story is good, that's a great thing. Yeah, script's great. I like all the characters and the pace is mostly on on par with the jokes. Channing Tatum made my celebrity crush list with this movie, who can a man so handsome be so awkward and still so charming. It's witchcraft. I also like the Moe character, Woody really rocks the G-Man look and attitude. Also ScarJo is hot, but I don't think I needed to tell you that. Her character has a really good arc in the story though, I think her and Channing Tatum stood out in that regard. Ray Romano has most of the emotional moments and my god is he so good at making it work. It is kinda crazy actually. I like the visual elements of the story. For whatever reason, shots with a foreground moving slower than the background is very visually appealing to me. They did it at the beginning of Deadpool 2, and they do it for a montage in this movie. The montages are pretty cool looking period. They do a bunch of split screen with animated news clippings and play news segments from the time. I love the jazz soundtrack as well. My final praise is how they do the moon landing. It is so amazing how the movie makes you hope an event you know has happened, happens. One half of the story is the NASA engineers trying to make sure that Neil, Buzz, and the other guy can land and return from the Moon. Y'know, the most famous event that happened in Space and the coolest thing the US government ever did? We all know how it ends. But while I knew that intellectually, my limbs were tingling when they counted down to liftoff, and the was on the edge of my seat when they landed. It helps that this is also where all the various plot threads and schemes in the movie are converging, so it's like a firecracker going off. The best heist movies do this, and this movie is basically a heist movie but instead of stealing something, they're going to space. Fly Me To The Moon is awesome.

What I Didn't Like.

Despite the comedy being so tight, the movie is a little shaggy in places. They only really introduce the faking the Moon Landing part of the story over halfway through the movie. Speaking of which, I don't know if it was good idea to court the "Moon Landing was fake" conspiracy theory for a plot. Like the jokes are funny and the story is interesting, but you know some loons are gonna use this movie as evidence that the Moon Landing was faked. But it was. All I have to say to you, Buggnutz, is Rooster Tails.

Final Summation.

I may or may not have mentioned this before, but my favorite show of all time is Leverage. It's about a bunch of con artists using their skills to scam rich people to help regular people. It's super good. What does this have to do with Fly Me To The Moon? Well the movies is basically a long episode that takes place in the 60s. Seriously, the crew in this movie is an older guy with a tragic backstory that haunts him, a older sexy grifter, a smart black guy, a short guy, and a young lady who's used for out-of-water comic relief. That's Nate, Sophie, Hardison, Eliot, and Parker! And I love it. It's a lot of fun and it made me, someone very critical of nationalism and the US, swell with patriotic pride. Why can't we do more space stuff? I know being pro-NASA yet anti-military industrial complex makes me a hypocrite, but... You wanna meet an alien. I wanna meet an alien.

[falloutbradreviews]

Lady Gaga - Harlequin

A couple weeks back, I was talking with a buddy of mine about modern pop music, and how there aren’t a lot of the 2010s artists still relevant in 2024. Aside from Charli XCX and Taylor Swift, the new stars are taking over, like Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter, but one star that has always remained relevant, yet not quite in the spotlight as much as recent years, is Lady Gaga. Her career is about to have a resurgence, though, with the upcoming Joker film coming out soon, but she just released a companion album to the movie called Harlequin, in which it serves as a concept album where she performs songs from the movie (as it’s a jukebox musical this time around, which is strange, but it could work) as her character, Harley Quinzel.

It’s comprised of a bunch of jazz standards from the 20th century, plus two originals, and as someone that loves jazz standards, this sounded really cool. Thankfully, it’s quite good, although I wouldn’t say it’s anything amazing, but it’s got a lot going for it. Gaga’s voice is what carries this album, admittedly, but that’s also the point of vocal jazz. A lot of what carries that genre are the vocals, and she does a good job here. She breezes through these songs with ease, but the arrangements aren’t much to write home about, really. I do like some of the changes she makes, and the originals are pretty good, but they aren’t anything to write home about, necessarily.

I’d recommend this if you’re a Lady Gaga fan, or you enjoy vocal jazz, because you may get something out of it. I’ve been having a good time with it, all things considered, but I haven’t been going back to it all that much after spinning it over the weekend. I do love a lot of vocal jazz, though, and it’s worth checking out, especially when it’s only 41 minutes long, so it’s not much time spent listening to it at all. I don’t know, folks, I do like this, but I wouldn’t say it’s an essential listen if you’re not a fan, or you don’t like vocal jazz that much. Maybe the album would be better with the movie, but in terms of the album itself, it’s fine, but ultimately nothing special.

[liminalpebble]

Eddie's Education: Chapter 9

Masterlist link

Minors DNI

Chapter 9

Dale, who conveniently always scheduled Eddie and Leia together, suggested that they feel free to wear costumes on shift throughout the month to promote the October festivities, and of course, he really wanted them to go all out when they work the blow-out party on the 31st.

Since they were both absolutely crazy about Halloween, they were only too glad to oblige. As they greeted each other to begin their shifts on Tuesday, they spent a moment appreciating each other's costumes. While Eddie was dumbstruck by her Wednesday Addams, complete with knee socks, braids and collared black dress, she took the opportunity to speak.

“Hey! You look great, Eddie! Are you...from a video game...or Lord of the Rings?”

Eddie blushed uncontrollably at her praise, but he already felt a little weird, in his pseudo-medieval get up, complete with a fake fur thrown over his shoulders.

“Thanks! But..uh...come on..you don't know who I am?”

“Can I have a hint?”

She yelped in surprise as Eddie flung himself up on a table and strutted across it while belting out, “HOLY DIVERRRR. You've been down too long in the midnight seaaa!!!” and making wild hand gestures, pretending to swing a sword.

He looked down at her sweet little white-powdered face, as she shook her head in confusion.

“I am Dio!” he hollered, arms outstretched in an a gesture between a shrug and a wizard summoning a demon, then dropped his arms with a sigh. “Ronnie James Dio? Started out in Black Sabbath..ring any bells?”

“I'm sorry,” she said. Looking a little more distraught about it than she should have, remembering all the times Sam would react with disbelief and belittle her for not knowing about one of his obscure bands or authors or artists or films. She braced herself for it.

Picking up on her tension, Eddie jumped off the table and held her by her slumping shoulders. “Hey,” he said meeting her eyes and smiling. “Don't worry about it! It was way before your time. I'm old, remember?”

She chuckled and the expression on her face was like a storm cloud parting for sunshine.

“The band plays in like half an hour. I'll ask the guys if we can play some Dio for you.”

She smiled. “I'd like that.” Relieved now, she went back behind the bar, prepping the glasses and the taps for the (probably) few but faithful drunks who would come to see Corroded Coffin this evening.

Studying her face a moment, appreciating her skillful pale make up and black-lined eyes, Eddie had an idea. “Hey, you wouldn't happen to have that black and white make up with you, would you?”

“Oh, uh, yeah! I brought it along. Why?”

“Would you mind doing some corpse paint on our faces? Me and the guys. It'd be so fucking metal!” he said, dark eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.

“Yeah! Of course. I'd love to!”

“Sweet! You can do that!?”

“Yeah! I got really good at stage makeup in Chicago.”

“Oh?” he said, as he emptied the dishwasher, then checked the bottles in the speed rack.

“Yeah, I used to dance with a neo-vaudville troupe in Chicago, in this run down old Victorian theater. It was so fun.”

Eddie looked at her wide eyed. “No way! That's so cool! You danced?”

“Yeah,” she said with a nostalgic grin. “Oh yeah. All kinds. Tap, jazz, ballet, etc. I danced since I was a kid...tutu and everything.”

Eddie stood all the way up now, meeting her eyes with a big silly grin, bringing out his laugh lines. “Well, I'll be damned Miss Vespero. You're just full of surprises! What a colorful life you've had.”

Her smile dropped a moment and a cloud of remembered dread crossed her dark eyes. “Yeah...'had' being the operative word here. I gave it up.” She snapped out of it, avoiding Eddie's concerned gaze by wiping down the counter, even though it was already clean.

“Why'd you stop?” he asked, hating that he could already guess the answer.

“Uh...after a few years...Sam wanted me to stop. Said it was stupid and ridiculous...like a bunch of adults dressing up and putting on a second-rate school play. I guess he was sort of right.”

“So what?! Look at us now! It's fun right. Wasn't that the point?”

“Yeah,” she chuckled, “yeah, it's really fun. I forgot how much I loved it. I forgot how much I loved a lot of things.”

“Well, this silly bastard is here to help you remember not to give a fuck what other people think, especially dickhead hipster ex-boyfriends. Come on, the guys just got here. Help us look undead?” he pleaded, grabbing her hand.

She nodded. “Mr. Munson, it would be my absolute pleasure.”

----

Dale minded the bar while Leia sat the four metal heads in a line of chairs before her, dabbing black and white make up into the panda-like smudges of death metal face paint. Eddie introduced her to his band mates, trying to seem nonchalant, but nonchalance was not exactly in Eddie's nature, and to Gareth, sitting next to him, the situation was abundantly clear. He side-eyed his friend, knowingly and asked, “So, Eddie, any word about your GED, my dude? Did you get it?”

Eddie let out a tired huff, accidentally blowing a makeup sponge full of white powder onto Gareth's face, as Leia held it in front of him, poised to dab.

“Goddamit, Eddie!” he exclaimed, as Leia stifled a laugh and gently patted the spilled powder off of Gareth's face and shoulders with a cloth. Eddie was laughing hysterically.

Gareth said pointedly to her, “Thank you Princess Leia,” and kissed her hand in a mock-courtly gesture, “unlike my friend here, your manners are exquisite.”

She giggled. Eddie glared. Gareth was riling his oldest friend on purpose, trying to gauge just how smitten Eddie was with her. His jealous glare told Gareth, in no uncertain terms, that he was head over heels.

“Anyway,” Eddie said clearing his throat, “They said we won't know for a few weeks.”

“A few weeks!” Gareth exclaimed.

Leia added, “Yeah, it can take a long time to get the results. It can be stressful.” She meant for the students, but of course it was stressful for her too, as she hoped the folks she helped would make it to their goal. She added, with a smile to Eddie, “Room 66 misses you, by the way. Andy asks about how you're doing all the time.”

“Aww, that's sweet. Tell him I'm doing fine, and tell that old timer to stop snoring in your class and drooling all over the desk. It's rude and gross!”

She laughed. “I will.” She looked around at her table of supplies. “Hrmm...hold on guys a need to grab a wet rag to clean up the powder avalanche. Be right back.”

As she hurried off, Gareth immediately turned and whispered frantically to Eddie. “What the actual fuck are you waiting for, Eddie! This is the girl, right? Jesus Christ, you're hopeless! She likes you too, you big dumb idiot.”

“We're friends. She was my teacher. Drop it,” Eddie said, in a warning tone.

“Bullshit, Eddie. I saw how you look at her, and I don't blame you, man. She seems pretty cool.”

“It's not like that.”

“Oh isn't it? I think I'll ask her out then.”

Jeff piped up from Eddie's other side, “Nope. I call dibs.”

Eddie grabbed his friends by the shirt collar staring them down in turn as he growled out, “don't you fucking dare.”

Gareth and Jeff both laughed. “See? Just admit it. Why are you putting yourself through this?”

Eddie rolled his black-smudged eyes dramatically. “Because she's my teacher, and coworker, and way too young for me, and way too good for me, so drop it.”

“She's not your teacher anymore, Eds,” Jeff commented.

Eddie let out a loud frustrated squawk, dropping his head in his hands and rubbing his face, forgetting about the make up. “Oh for fuck's sake,” he declared as he saw his hands covered in paint.

When he looked up, Leia was back with the washcloth, staring wide-eyed at the scene before her, having heard Eddie's barbaric yalp from across the room. “Are...uh...are you guys okay?”

“We're fine!” Eddie barked. The rest of the guys looked at each other, realizing their faces were ready, they agreed through silent nods that they had tormented their friend enough and went to the stage to finish setting up. Leia knelt in front of Eddie's chair with her make up kit, and lifted his chin so she could see his face. Meeting his concerned eyes, she smiled sweetly and said simply, “There you are, handsome.”

He smirked as she touched up his face paint, saying quietly, “Yeah, sweetheart, here I am. But I don't know who you're calling handsome in this get up.”

She was examining his hands now as she gently cleaned the make up off of his broad palms. She cradled the backs of his knuckles with her small soft fingers as if big scary Eddie Munson was actually very breakable. And she knew, of course, that he was; knew that there was some deep pain inside of him that he didn't dare to talk about with most people and she wondered what it was, or if he would ever tell her. Once she checked her work she nodded, and said, “looks like it's go time. Break a leg out there, Eddie the Banished,” he got up and strode to the stage like a viking lunging into battle thinking, This one's for you, Princess Leia.

------

It was a surprisingly large crowd after all (large for the Hideout, anyway). Several dozen back yard revelers and frat boys had brought their weekday drinking to the bar to enjoy some seasonal flare, tired of the scenery of their own suburban fire pits and red solo cups full of booze. While Eddie did his thing on stage, Leia and Dale hustled non-stop bartending. Still, Leia managed to find time to glance at the metalhead in total admiration. Eddie was so talented; a born performer, creative and passionate, no matter who was watching, how many there were, or what they thought. He was unapologetically himself and it thrilled her in ways she was trying to pretend it didn't. She felt like a horny teenager, lusting after the guitarist onstage, but she shrugged it off, figuring that every girl who's ever watched him in this town must have felt that way. She told herself her feelings were nothing special, and she didn't even think herself pretty enough to be a one night stand for him (probably just one of many at that). He could probably have his pick after all. Leia had no idea how very untrue so much of that rumination was.

After closing, Dale invited the guys to stick around and have a few free beers. They laughed as they guzzled the cheap alcohol and talked about D and D. Leia listened curiously from where she was wiping down tables as they did. It all seemed pretty mystifying to her. She was always interested in learning to play but never had the guts to ask a group to teach her. They already seemed so well established and knew what they were doing. She figured a newbie would just be frustrating. Not to mention, she couldn't begin to imagine the delightful field day Sam would have had teasing her about that.

When everything else was done and Dale was counting the register, Leia came over with a damp washcloth, held it up and said, “Okay, who's first for make up removal.”

All their hands shot up. “Uh. I uh...I guess I'll just start at this end.”

She carefully wiped off their face paint and finished it off by giving them each a kiss on the head. Eddie was last, and his kiss on the head lasted just a little longer. “Great show tonight, guys...night.”

“Good night Miss Vespero, they all said in unison,” as a joke, and she chuckled as she shrugged on her bag and Dale held the door for her, offering to drive her home tonight since the boys were getting hammered.

“Take care of her Dale, please, make sure she gets home safe.”

Dale shook Eddie's hand, “I won't drive off until she waves from the window. I know. I'll treat her like my own daughter. Hey, be sure to lock of up when you leave, okay fellas?”

All four nodded and grunted their “goodnight”s.

As soon as Dale and Leia were gone, each guy took turns yelling in Eddie's face, commanding him to ask that girl out before someone else does.

@sunflowerdaydreamer

[gerogerigaogaigar]

Funkadelic - Maggot Brain

For the early days of Funkadelic's career the funk definitely took a backseat to the psychedelic. And while there are funky elements throughout Maggot Brain the real star is guitarist Eddie Hazel. I think Eddie Hazel is one of the best guitarists ever, his work in Funkadelic and his solo career is a blend of psychedelic, blues, hard rock, funk, and jazz and no one blends them all the way Hazel does. On the middle of the album Hazel plays fuzzy heavy riffs especially on You And Your Folks, Me And My Folks and Super Stupid. And on the ten minute opening and closing tracks he shows off his improv skill by playing delicate strings of jazzy riffs that create a beautiful stream of consciousness style solo. Obviously every single ayer on this album is a master at what they do but if its early Funkadelic, especially Maggot Brain and Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On, then Eddie Hazel is your god.

U2 - The Joshua Tree

This is an enjoyable album. The 135th best album ever? Oh my god no. U2 are factory default music. They are plain, unsalted potato chips. Bono is incredible at reaching into the void and pulling out the platonic ideal of banality. Like these guys can write decent music, but there is no soul. Inside those jangly chords and melodramatic vocals is just a bunch of guys who want to be famous and will do anything to get there except be sincere.

Fugees - The Score

In terms of rhyming, flow, storytelling capabilities, expansive vocabulary, beat crafting, and whatever else you want out of a hip hop record The Score is possibly the greatest record of all time. Wyclef Jean in charge of production and bringing a casual style of rap with heavy use of Haitian creole, Miss Lauryn Hill with a tough stacatto style while also bringing beautiful singing, and furtive Pras so easily forgotten. The mix of reggae and jazz into the hip hip beats made for some very unique flow and makes the group stand out on the basis of their instrumentals alone. But the rap skills of the rest of the group are completely insane and all three are ao perfectly in sync with each other. The lyrics are effortlessly cool and intelligent as fuck at the same time. There are absolutely no throw away tracks on here. Every single song could and should have been a smash hit single. And to be fair Ready Or Not and Fu-Gee-La did become huge hits and the transcendent cover of Roberta Flack's Killing Me Softly is one of the most evergreen songs in hip hop history. The Score has stood the test of time and become one of the most belived albums for a reason.

Joni Mitchell - Hejira

At this point in her career Joni Mitchell was an unparalleled genius at artistic expression. A little folksy and very jazzy, especially with the help of fretless bassist Jaco Pastorius, Mitchell is in the zone here. Every song developing its own complex series of characters and symbols. This is Joni Mitchell's most complete and cohesive work, although i personally have a slight preference for the less focused Hissing Of Summer Lawns.

Hank Williams - 40 Greatest Hits

What am i even supposed to say at this point? Sure I like Hank Williams but if you cant actually point to an album that is significant to call one of the 500 greatest then just choose aomething else. Hey there have only been three or four metal albums total and one electronic album so far. Why not choose some of that? Iron Maiden, Diamond Head, Judas Priest, Converge, Rainbow, Entombed, Gojira, Sepultura, Devin Townsend, Voivod, Opeth, Between The Buried And Me? Theres a list of metal bands with top 500 tier albums. Andy Stott, Carl Craigg, 808 State, The KLF, Jeff Mills, Juan Atkins, Robert Hood, The Orb, Justice, Moodyman, The Field, Leftfield, Mr. Oizo. There I gave you some electronic artists too. This list sucks. Oh yeah and Hank Williams is like the father of country music and is really good and important or whatever.

[sixtenmachado]

sixten copy pastes some rambly discord messages into a review and calls it a day: An InFamous 2 Review

(Copy/pasted from my backloggd)

i like how WEIRD the movement is, there's not really any other games where the character moves like the InFamous games, except Ghost of Tsushima, which is made by the same studio and also directed by Nate Fox. It's kinda hard to explain but it's like right in between uncharted and a PS2 platformer, with a bunch of special interactions with grind rails, power lines and such. The game feels weird at first, but when you get into the swing of it it feels REALLY good to play, especially the movement. I can run around for hours in the InFamous games and never get bored, the balance of flow vs careful pathfinding is immaculate. I like the electricity, both looks-wise and how you're constantly aware of and interacting with electrical currents in the world

there are few games that are so mechanically fixated on the way you perceive and navigate your environment while also being focused on being empowering and free flowing

i also really like New Orleans as a setting, i like the misty swamps and the faux french architecture, i like the way hints of jazz sneak into the soundtrack in subtle and unexpected ways

infamous 1 and 2 are probably the most deserving of a HD rerelease out of literally any games because they run like dogshit and it brings the experience down SO much, especially when you're not a kid with patience for bad framerates

what else… I just love that Cole (the guy you play as) is this parkour dude with big pants and a funny courier bag, he loves urban exploration and he's like a gruff bald late 2000s game protagonist but he has a few moments where he softens in a way that feels human and believable. I love that his best friend, Zeke, is this kind of sleazy but truly loyal and kind southerner who clearly doesn't have his shit together but isn't portrayed with any kind of disgust or malice. Any other game would have that character just be a GTA-style piece of shit that you're supposed to just kind of dislike but feel empowered by what a piece of shit he is, but here he's portrayed with empathy and nuance

also while i don't particularly love comic books the game bleeds love for them, and it's just nice when things are so earnest. I can see what they were going for and i truly appreciate it

the good/evil system, while kind of binary and oversimplified, still has a fun dichotomy of carelessly explosive or carefully precise. Both playstyles are cool and valid, even if the moral choices themselves are generally complete no-brainers. But that's kind of the point: the more evil shit Cole does, the less he has to care. What's motivating him truly is personal greed, which aligns with the players motivations if they're drawn to that explosive playstyle. Moral choices in most games come down to investment in the story, but InFamous primarily treats it as investment in mechanics, with story beats reflecting the implications

for all the jank, strangely balanced combat encounters, annoying enemies shooting you as you're trying to get from A to B, terrible framerate, and often sort of forgettable and limp story, I can't help but give this game the highest score. None of those issues manage to get in the way of the impact this game has had on me, and all the fun I've had just running around in it. Every moment of jankiness, be it gameplay or narrative, is met by not only moments where it works really well but also shows some truly interesting, unique and clearly well thought-out artistic choices.

[breakerwhiskey]

063 - SIXTY-THREE

Please visit breakerwhiskey.com for more information or to send a message to Whiskey's radio. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen. If you'd like to support the show, please visit patreon.com/breakerwhiskey.

Transcript under the cut. For more episodes, click here.

[click, static]

[stray morse beeps]

[click]

Birdie??? Birdie, are you there?

[click, static]

Birdie. Do you read?

[click, static]

Goddammit.

I could have sworn that I heard…

[click, static]

I was tuning through the channels and there were beeps that sounded like you. Like you were trying to send something.

[click, static]

(sighs) Maybe I’m imagining things. Wanting to hear from you.

(laughs) You know, it sort of reminds me of sitting by the phone waiting for a date to call, or whatever.

Not that I ever did that much dating, but I remember the first time I had a genuinely good date, I was twenty-one, living in that terrible shoebox apartment with a million other people, and I went on this date with this—uh, they were a friend of a friend of a friend, one of those set ups that happens when you’re in your twenties and you know a ton of people but you don’t really know any of them. Did you experience that?

(mumbling) I guess I don’t even know how old you are.

Anyway, I’d met a bunch of people through my roommates and my job and a few of the bars that I would frequent and I had this one friend, Sissy, who made it her life’s mission to set everyone in the world up. It didn’t matter how tenuous the connection between her and the two parties were, she was shameless anyway.

So she set me up with—lets call them “K”. K worked on Wall Street, which made me immediately suspicious but Sissy assured me that they were cool because the friend that she knew them through was a choreographer and had good taste in people. I don’t know, I agreed because, again, really lonely and also I thought if K was a Wall Street person, maybe I’d get dinner at a really fancy restaurant out of it, somewhere I could order a twenty dollar glass of wine or something.

But it wasn’t like that at all. K took me to get gyros at this street vendor that they swore was the best food in the city. And it was pretty good and K paid, so I was plenty happy. And then we went to a jazz club where they knew the owner, so we got the best seats and really good service and…I don’t know. It was nice, to be somewhere that treated you like you were special.

And that all would’ve been enough for me to go out with K again—I was twenty-one and dead broke, I would’ve gone on as many dates as I could if it meant I got a free meal or a good night on the town. But, much to my surprise, I had fun. Sissy had been right. K was funny, and smart—one of those people you’d never run out of things to talk about with. I hadn’t really experienced that before.

So we exchanged numbers at the end of the date—kissed on the cheek to say goodbye, I think maybe we were both nervous—and I waited by the phone for days. I drove my roommates insane—any time I came home from work I’d hound them about if anyone had called when I was gone. We didn’t have a phone service, so we were pretty reliant on one of us being home at all times, which usually someone was. But there was nothing.

Eventually I just bit the bullet and I called K—who did have a phone service, of course, which is what I got when I called. It’s what I got every time I called. And I’d leave my name and number with the service every time—even starting saying when I’d be likely to be home so they could tell K when was best to call back and…the phone stayed silent.

[click, static]

Please don’t stop answering my calls. Or, if you do, at least give me a reason. K never did.

[click, static]

[animehouse-moe]

Welcome To Demon School! Iruma-Kun Volume 1: The Misfits

It's been several years at this point since I stumbled across Iruma-Kun as an anime. Three seasons deep with all sorts of content and arcs, and a mountain of manga chapters and volumes I never thought I'd get in English. But it's here. Somehow, it's made it here and I'm endlessly excited about that. How does it measure up to the anime? How does the source material differ? What's the art style like? Is there any dropped content? How does the pacing compare? So, so many questions that I can finally answer.

The short of it though? People should absolutely be picking up this manga. It's friendly and welcoming for all ages without feeling too childish or mature, Kodansha's giving it a nice and quick release schedule, it's got 3 Seasons of anime to watch to see if you'll like it, and there's plenty of spinoffs that have a chance to make it over here if this release does well!

⚠️Warning: Spoilers Ahead⚠️

I think the most noticeable difference is in the art. To summarize it, Nishi's style in the manga is rather different to the anime. It's what you might call malleable. The proportions, lighting, even aspects of the core character design ebb and flow depending on the scene they're in. Line thickness and texture moves around, shading and color differs from character to character, and even chibi designs have wiggle room in how they're shown.

It's really interesting, because through these 4 panels, there's not really a stellar amount of visual similarity in how things are drawn. The shading on Iruma's (top left) clothes vs Kalego's (bottom right) is different, and Kalego's hair has shading and texture while Iruma's doesn't. Azz-Kun (bottom left) has heavy line weight while Sullivan (top right) is a far lighter line weight. It's incredibly curious, because I wouldn't say any of these pages bear much resemblance to one another in how they're drawn, but they're undeniably all from the same artist. It's a really great feat to provide so much consistent variance in art style for the series.

Alongside that, I must say I'm impressed with the paneling as well. You can get a really solid grasp of it from Iruma and Azz-Kun's pages above. There's a lot of variance and different approaches to similar content.

There's different perspectives, angles, and everything keep it all fresh and interesting, and the shapes of the panels are really commendable. It constantly refuses to use clear cut rectangles and squares, and tries its damnedest to put a creative spin on it. Even in pages like this one, all of the panels have an irregular side. At least one line in the rectangle is angled or cut off. It's such a simple thing, but it makes it such a more interesting read as you're not constantly looking at a bunch of plain squares.

Though, I guess I should take a break from the visual stuff, and talk about story, yeah?

I'm pretty surprised, there's a lot of great moments from the anime that were extrapolated from very minimal context or interaction, and even some that don't appear in the manga. Inconsequential pieces in terms of story, but really great work to expand on the nature and feel of the manga.

Saying that though, there's just as many moments that go shot for shot between the two, like Iruma and Azz-Kun's fight.

Or Iruma's entrance into the Misfit's classroom.

In addition to that, it's really cool to see how well planned this story is. Being a manga you get to soak up those pieces a lot better, and notice background details and things like that. Just take a look at this panel. Yes, Clara's in it, but there's somebody on the left side as well. Jazz makes an appearance here, and for good reason! Such a fun little detail, and just one example of many that exist within the manga that either didn't make it to the anime, or that I didn't notice in the anime.

Now, the elephant in the room: Lied. His early design is certainly something. I wouldn't say I hate it, but I also wouldn't deny that I vastly prefer his newer/current design a hundred times over. Basically the only design that sees noticeable change through the story, and for good reason. Also, Kerori in the background.

Also, I really just have to give it up for Nishi's art. You get a taste of it in the anime, but it feels so much stronger throughout this first volume of the manga. They like their perspective pieces, and they really like playing with heaver line weight to create tension and energy, and I'm all for it. It's a really fluid experience overall, and is great at selling readers on a more dynamic feel to the art and characters.

Pieces like this where the lines of the panels begin to warp and change, just such cool details that really show how pervasive Nishi's style is to the overall work, how when the style shifts, the whole perception of the sequence does.

I also feel like this spread is a really great example of why I like Nishi's character designs. They're all incredibly unique, and share very little to tie them to one another. All different outfits, proportions, and features. Clara's got a completely different style to Iruma, who's got a completely different style to Azz-Kun. It's a world of characters in a single story, and really never gets old.

And lastly, here's one of those perspective pieces I was talking about earlier. Nishi doesn't blindly use it to make for cool and more 3 dimensional panels or pages, but to convey something. A stretched out panel of Iruma fretting over being a human at a demon school, or in this case, a skewed perspective to sell the scale and grandeur of the Demon King. We're only at his feet, out of the entirety of his presence, Nishi is showing us where we're at in the story currently. It's a really great idea that just blends implicitly with "big Demon King is cool as hell".

So, at the end of this first volume, I'm thoroughly impressed with both the anime and the manga. The anime really grasps the material well and finds a way to heighten a lot of it, while the manga loses very little expression despite its relative handicap to the anime. Both are undeniably great, and both are certainly worth experiencing.

The energy remains apparent, the story is untouched and in its purest form, the art is all over the place in the best way, and the feel of Iruma-Kun is still so wonderfully strong. The silly nature that will have you breaking out in a laugh at the smallest things remains, and that warm feeling you get from the cuter moments is still there. It's still the same Iruma-Kun I know and love from the anime, and still places at the top of shounen manga that everybody should give a chance.

[sirenutsukushi]

Keiji Akaashi SFW/NSFW HeadCanons

Featuring: Fem!Reader.

Warnings: Domesticity, talks of marriage, AFAB!reader, soft!Akaashi, fluff, anxiety, mentions of pregnancy, mentions of kids, reassuring Akaashi. NSFW after the border, light spanking/slapping/choking. Thigh riding, thigh fucking, breast fucking. Oral, giving. Fingering, fisting. Light overstimulation. Mentions of role playing, lingerie. Light pregnancy/breeding kink.

Type of girl he’d like - Akaashi Keiji is a very creative, yet very analytical and precise man. Despite this he’s an over thinker and he isn’t as suave and cool as he is portrayed to be. Because of this I definitely see him falling for a girl who is creative as well, maybe an artist or painter, who is typically reserved and keeps to themself, isn’t as loud and brash as his best friend. He wants a s/o not Bokuto 2.0. I also seem him as being into an independent, academic girl. He definitely wants a girl who can hold a educated, deep conversation with him and who knows what she’s talking about. He’d also be into a girl who loves books and literature. Bonus points if she loves old classics such as Sherlock Holmes, Hans C. Anderson Fairytales, Knights of the Roundtable, etc.

(Omfg imagine sitting down with Akaashi and him reading a book to you in that melodic, soft voice of his wHOO)

Definitely has that academia aesthetic, even out of high school. Like he’s not dark dark but he’s definitely not light.

Akaashi most definitely has insecurities and hella anxiety he’s just very good at controlling it, plus being friends with someone like Bokuto really helped him out. He most certainly needs a lot of convincing in your relationship, he gets worried that he’s not enough for you or that you’d be better with someone else.

“Keiji, darling, look at me.” You pull his face into your hands, peppering kisses along his cheeks, forehead, nose, chin and finally, lips. “You are more than enough, you’re absolutely perfect and don’t you dare think I’d be better off with anyone else.”

If you have anxiety, he’ll be the same way for you. Always reassuring you and praising you, making you feel loved and wanted. He loves you more than he can express in words.

Totally leaves little notes and poems expressing his love and affection for you all over the place.

For nicknames, he’s more elegant and classy. “Darling”, “Blossom”, “My Love”, etc. Sometimes calls you “Baby”. You definitely call him “Pretty Boy” and “Love”.

He definitely strikes me as the type of guy to listen to soft jazz, blues or like Elvis and other similar artists. Classical music too. He definitely owns a record player and an extensive vinyl collection. The only thing bigger than his vinyl collection is his collection of books. His home office literally has a nice, sturdy and polished oak desk with a desktop computer, a bunch of bookcases made with the same wood and style as his desk. He definitely has one of those desk lamps that fancy granddads have. (Ya know, the gold ones with the green pill shaped shade thing— lemme look them up. BANKER DESK LAMPS-) He probably has a really nice chair too, one that won’t give him back issues. He still has a sore back of course but that’s from slouching when he’s working. His bookcases are definitely filled with older series, classics, etc. probably even has his old college textbooks and high school exam prep books on them too. Most definitely has a calligraphy pen set. (Akaashi gives me low low key Edgar Poe from BSD vibes.) You got him a few old looking maps to hang on his walls (one of them is a map of Camelot cause y’all best be watching Merlin together) alongside his college degree and a couple framed photos of you and him. Definitely has your son’s birth certificate framed.

Speaking of having a son, I totally HeadCanon it as being a complete (but happy) accident. Like Keiji is in his like— last year of college and you call him freaking out. You’re both in a committed relationship with each other, and have been for a couple years now. He comes over and you explain to him in tears that you’re carrying his baby and he just— freezes. It’s completely unexpected and definitely not part of his life plan yet but he wasn’t really all that upset about it. He smiled and explains (with tears in his eyes 😤) that while it’s definitely unexpected he’s not mad and is in fact elated. He really does love you and while a kid was unexpected, once again it wasn’t unwanted.

He moves you into his apartment after a few months, since your lease will be up soon anyways. The one bedroom apartment is small but it’s livable and cozy. Your son is born and you name him Eichi, which means Wisdom 🥺 Yall definitely have to keep him in your room for now, theres no space in the apartment for a nursery or anything unfortunately. After his lease is up, Keiji and you get a slight bigger apartment, with a nursery, an office for him and a studio for you.

Tbh Akaashi definitely proposes to you after you tell him you’re pregnant. He’s had the ring for a few weeks but was waiting for the perfect moment. He decided that was definitely the perfect time to pull it out and propose. His parents were always a bit old fashioned, and it was imperative to them that you both got married before you had Eichi. You both got married in a shrine for his family, but it wasn’t terrible. It was simple and elegant, the way you both liked it.

NSFW HeadCanons

Akaashi is definitely amazing in bed. Maybe I’m being biased because I’m head over heels for him- but he’s fucking perfect. Strong thighs, strong arms, pretty moans, pretty hands and long fingers 🥵

He strikes me as a thigh guy, but like Oikawa he fucking loves boobs. Loves the way your thighs jiggle when you flop onto the couch, or how your breasts bounce when you’re coming down the stairs fast. Can’t help himself when you wear anything low cut, or short shorts. Especially weak for thigh highs. He will gladly fuck his cock between your thighs before stuffing you full, without hesitation.

Speaking of thigh fucking—- he definitely has a thigh riding kink. The idea of you getting off by rubbing your pussy along his strong thigh, your juices dripping off and soaking his flesh— it just does something to him.

“C’mon Blossom, you can do it. Cum on my thigh.” He whispers in your ear, fingers digging into your supple hips as he helps move you along his toned thighs. A wanton moan escapes your swollen lips as you lean your head against his chest, whimpering and whining as you hump his thigh so needily, already overstimulated. Akaashi chuckles, bouncing his leg and making you jolt forward with a squeal as your clit is smacked, causing you to gush with your orgasm. “Fuck, that’s it baby. Such a good girl for me aren’t you?” He asks breathlessly, watching as you cum on his thigh for the second time that night, your juices dripping down his flesh, causing his dick to strain against his boxers.

To the topic of his fingers—- w h o o o o boy. He has extremely pretty hands, they’re soft and large but not scarily so. His fingers are longer, slender and nimble. And he certainly knows how to use them. He loves the reactions you give him. The moans when he buries his middle and ring fingers in your cunt, or the breathless gasps of pleasure when he wraps his fingers around your throat, lightly, faintly constricting your airway in a manner that makes you wetter than before. He’s also, definitely into fisting you.

The squelching and gushing noises that filled the room brought a flush to your already warm cheeks, your head falling back as you brought your hands to your face. “Keiji… f.. fuck.” You swore softly, bucking your hips upward as he buried two of his slender fingers inside your slick cunt, thrusting them in and out at a steady pace, slowly adding a third. Akaashi watched your face, drinking up the noises of pleasure, the shudders that wracked your bare body and the wet sounds your dripping pussy made. “You’re so beautiful, blossom… think you can take more of my fingers? I’d love to see your cute little flower swallow my fist.”

For kinks- praise, giving and receiving. Fingering, fisting, giving. Thigh riding, thigh fucking. Breast fucking, low low key into Roleplay. Things like teacher/student and some romantic roles. Low key has a breeding kink, seeing you have his kid is something that never ceases to amaze and attract him. Plus he loved watching how swollen your breasts got. Spanking, light choking and lingerie, especially thigh highs and garter belts. Love, love, loves watching you suck him off. It just does something to him.

Speaking of sucking him off, I’ve mentioned that this man is pretty pretty. And that includes his dick. It’s long and still a bit on the thicker side, definitely at least 6.7” erect, with a slight curve. Kinda like a banana. Probably an inch or so in girth, with a prominent vein along the underside. The head is a soft pink, while the rest of his length is a bit paler, matching his skin tone. Circumcised, definitely keeps tidy and trimmed, with a dark happy trail. You’ve never imagined calling a dick pretty until you saw his for the first time and your breath hitched looking at it. He adores gently tugging on your hair as you take him in your mouth. Will instantly cum if you sandwich his dick between your breasts while sucking him off.

”Fuck- that’s it Blossom, just like that-“ Keiji’s soft, melodic voice praised you breathlessly as your tongue flicked the flushed head of his cock, collecting the warm precum and tasting it. You hummed at the faintly sweet taste, your hand pumping and twisting his shaft as you brought your swollen lips around the tip and suckled gently. Keiji leaned his head back, a series of soft moans, swears and praises escaping his mouth as he buried his pretty hands in your hair and tugged gently. You looked up at him through your lashes, slowly lowering your head down until the tip of your nose brushed against his trimmed patch of hair.

His favorite positions are definitely missionary, or mating press. But he loves watching you ride him, and loves taking you from behind and bending you over even more. Enjoys the latter especially so, just loves watching your thighs and ass bounce from the force of his thrusts.

He’s even more into throwing your legs up and having you squeeze your thighs together before sandwiching his cock between the plump flesh. He’ll gently squeeze your thighs, slap and pinch your ass as he fucks your supple skin and slaps your cunt with his cock every now and again. He’ll go feral if you wear those stockings he loves so much, while he fucks your thighs.

Akaashi is just the best in the bedroom, hands down. He’s very observant and knows just what makes you squirm, and how to completely satisfy you in ways nobody else ever could.

[biglisbonnews]

Chenayder's 'My My' Marries Past and Present Hannah Montana proved that superstars walk among us every day, and Chenayder still finds a way to go to class while her streams rack up into the millions on her Spotify. She even uses her bathroom pass to make TikToks in the bathroom of her Florida high school, dancing along to her viral hits before 3 PM. Since 2022, Chenayder achieved success via TikTok for her viral hit "Fall," which sounds like the soundtrack to a fever dream falling into Wonderland or discovering a dusty old record in your attic. Despite being so young, she gets wide-eyed when she listens to '50s and '60s jazz and girl groups. Blending together a modern indie-pop sensibility with a deep appreciation for songs of yesteryear, Chenayder is introducing a new generation to the foundation of modern-day pop music.Today, Chenayder premieres "My My." Her sickeningly sweet vocals are reminiscent of the Golden Age of pop, layered into hypnotic harmony. The minimalist palette of bass guitar and drums juxtaposes against her vintage melodies, blending old with new, familiar with unfamiliar. Its accompanying lo-fi video captures the pure, childlike joy of being with friends, playing hand games and frolicking on the playground, documented lovingly on an old camcorder.Below, watch the PAPER premiere of Chenayder's "My My" and keep scrolling to read a conversation Chenayder and fellow Gen Z artist redveil. Who did you grow up listening to? Do you get inspiration for your music nowadays from them?redveil: I grew up on random songs from skate videos that I can’t even find the name of, Odd Future instrumentals, go-go music, gospel music, Chiddy Bang and a bunch of other random stuff. I 100% get inspiration from all these different places today and my goal as an artist is to blend everything I grew up on and have love for as seamlessly as possible. I’ve been trying it more in my new music especially.Chenayder: That sounds cool! I grew up mostly listening to what my brother listened to which was people like Kanye West, Bruno Mars, Adele and many more. Once I got my own YouTube account and started looking into new music to listen to, I found artists like Melanie Martinez and Billie Eilish. They inspired me a lot with my sound when I first started out.Who is your dream collaboration?redveil: This is a super hard question, but I feel it would be Robert Glasper or Tyler, the Creator. I have so much respect for Glasper as a pianist and musician in general and I think if we made something together it would be the most satisfying thing that I could ever hear. For Tyler, I'm a student of his work in every aspect. I think it would be really interesting to see how the different details of our sound could potentially blend and how I could blend influences that he may not have (like DMV music) with the stuff that he grew up on and respects the most. It would just make me super happy to hear whatever we would come up with.Chenayder: For me, it would be Tyler, the Creator too! I really like his music and I feel like our styles really can blend together to make something beautiful. I also would like to make a song with Billie Eilish. I have been listening to her since I was in 6th grade and I think we can make something great.How would you describe the music you make?redveil: I would describe it as music that helps you get out of bed. It’s triumphant but will always acknowledge how hard it is to be triumphant sometimes. Being able to make it happen nonetheless is what I feel like it represents, and I want people to feel like they can make it happen when they hear my music. On the production side, it’s super sunny and soulful but it’s also really fucking loud. Basically, if you like smiling and being happy, just give it a try.Chenayder: I would describe my music as vintage and sorrowful because even my happiest-sounding songs have a sad meaning to them that most people don’t notice. I like making songs that people and I can relate to.What’s your favorite song to perform?redveil: Probably "Weight." It’s my biggest song so that’s interesting because I feel like usually artists don’t like performing their biggest song. But for me, that one is so special because of the lyrics. Hearing a crowd of people say, “Tell myself I ain’t feeling the weight” fills my heart up with a warmth that’s hotter than 10 million suns. It makes me feel like I made the right decision to talk about what I choose to talk about in my music. Also, the beat just slaps so it always gets people hype. I'm gonna have a lot of fun performing that one for a long time.Chenayder: I haven’t got to do live performances yet but I would love to perform “My My” because I already have fun singing it now and I feel like I see a lot of people singing the chorus and vibing to it. Plus it’s very catchy.Have you ever felt that you had to change your sound or aesthetic for a mainstream audience?redveil: Definitely. That's how I was making music for a while and I got absolutely nowhere doing it. One day I decided to just let that go and wear my quirks on my sleeve and that’s when stuff started to look up for me. It's crazy because I still have a lot of mainstream or less “alternative” sounding music. And I think my own spin or interpretation on a blend of both worlds is where I fit the best.Chenayder: I have definitely felt that way myself because I didn’t think people would like my “vintage sound” because it’s something of the past and it’s not something that popular with people today. That's why I used to just stick to indie guitar beats, but then one day I was just like, Why shouldn’t I make music that I think is good?What was the most special moment in your career?redveil: The most special moment in my career was definitely October 2020 when I woke up to a Tyler cosign. I can’t wrap my head around it still, mainly because it happened so early in my career. Someone who was so instrumental in lighting the spark for me musically validating my artistry has been one of the most satisfying moments of my career.Chenayder: The most special moment in my career was definitely seeing that my song “Fall” went viral and there were so many nice comments. I felt like I was moving in the right direction. I got to be noticed by a lot of people that I looked up to like Clairo and Overpade.Photo courtesy of the artist https://www.papermag.com/chenayder-my-my-2659319954.html

[aiweirdness]

Jukebox of weirdness

Ever wish you could hear what it would have sounded like if jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald had done a cover of Baby Shark?

So classy, right? How did this happen? A couple of steps:

OpenAI trained a new neural net called Jukebox on over 1.2 million songs.

Unlike previous attempts at AI-generated music, Jukebox has the ability to sing lyrics.

I asked them very very nicely if they would please give some robo-artists the lyrics to Baby Shark.

They were very very nice to me.

Here’s The Beatles covering Baby Shark

This is seriously cool work. Till now, AI music generation has mostly focused on generating individual notes, kind of like a midi file. That’s because there’s so much going on in your average song - the timbre of the instruments, the squeak of strings, the sound of breath, notes bending, the room echo - that an audio file is much much more dense with information than simple music notation. The more a neural net has to keep track of, the harder its job is.

To do full audio files, OpenAI used some interesting tricks - like training a neural net on a super-compressed version of the audio file, so it could keep track of the overall song structure without worrying about getting the details right. Then other neural nets were trained to turn this super-compressed audio into something more realistic. Jukebox is multiple neural nets working together, all very specialized for music generation.

Here’s another cover of Baby Shark, this time by singer-songwriter Jack Johnson (for him, the ocean theme is fitting). Interestingly, toward the end, he seems to segue into seagull sounds, and then some kind of… bubbling? Gibbering? How lucky we are - none of this would have been possible with an AI that was restricted to music notation.

Now, the AI versions aren’t the greatest in the world - given the lyrics to “Yesterday” and “The Beatles” as the target style, it generates an utterly bland, meandering tune (it still has trouble with long-term coherence and will sometimes get stuck on endless instrumentals or repeated lyrics, not realizing how long it’s been in that particular groove). At least (in typical show-offy Jukebox style) it ends by applauding itself.

So is Jukebox the future of music? Well, again, its songs are pretty terrible. And possibly unusable for commercial things, depending on the legal implications of training on and parodying various artists. It also takes 9 hours to generate 1 minute of audio, and there’s no guarantee it will sing what you ask. Especially if you’ve given it weird lyrics for the style you’re asking for, it might just decide to do an instrumental instead. But it hints at the kinds of creative tools that COULD be built, as AIs get more efficient and as musicians get involved with building their own tools.

And for now, we have a rare opportunity to find out what it would be like if Frank Sinatra sang that one really intense AI-generated Christmas carol about Rudolph and human flesh for sacrifice yada yada:

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, with its red belly The All-gracious King of all the earth, Had a baby at Christmas time, On Christmas Day, A true and holy Deity, Went down to earth, With human flesh for sacrifice.

For sinful men such a Deity doth appear, And wink and nod in reply, As he winked and nod in reply, As he winked and nod in reply

The wretched world is run by ox and ass The wretched world is run by ox and ass, And in vain build I.

Frank Sinatra, folks

There is also an Elvis version.

Shoutout in particular to Christine McLeavey Payne of OpenAI, who very kindly generated the above samples for me.

OpenAI published a bunch of examples, searchable by artist and genre. You can generate your own too! OpenAI released a free colab notebook where you can specify your own lyrics, genre, and artist. (It takes 9 hours to do the full upscaling, but the basic-level track is still very listenable, and the mid-quality track emerges after a couple of hours and sounds fine to me).

I used the colab to see what a heavy metal version of Baby Shark would sound like. It goes… unexpected places. I was not disappointed.

Subscribers get bonus content: I got the neural net GPT-2 to suggest some alternate lyrics to Baby Shark.

My book on AI is out, and, you can now get it any of these several ways! Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Indiebound - Tattered Cover - Powell’s - Boulder Bookstore

[ecle-c-tic]

THANK YOU SO MUCH @sevenseasofyeet!!! This is super cool!!!

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Who was your first favourite artist?

Either Queen or Elton John!

I think I've told this story before, but when I was small my brother had a crazy frog CD that I quickly claimed as my own to play We Are the Champions on repeat! It went 'missing' about 3 months later!!! I also remember listening to the radio and losing my absolute shit every time 'the pirate song' came on, it was Bohemian Rhapsody, but for some reason, I remember thinking the Operatic section sounded like pirates??? (yeah I have no clue either)

My Elton John CD was the first CD I ever had! But before that, my mom would play Island Girl, Bennie, Philadelphia Freedom, Don't Go Breaking My Heart, Your Song, and Bad Side of the Moon for me every time we went out! 🥺

Who are your current favourite artists?

Queen, Elton, Wham!, The Clash, and their solo stuff (like George, Fred, JS + the Mescaleros, etc. etc.)

Are you into musicals? Which ones?/Why not?

fuck yeah! I think I listened to Phantom of the Opera about every day during jr high! (#fuck u raoul) I love Wicked (I sobbed literally the entire time I watched it on Broadway), Phantom, Anastasia, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (with Patrick Page and Michael Arden- holy shit!) and Chicago! (my grandmother showed me Chicago (like with Renee Zellweger when I was about 4, doesn't that explain a lot?)

I'm starting to listen to more and more Operas, their talent is truly amazing!

Are there songs you consider so special you only listen to them very rarely?

I think Queen II is so special that I'd rather not listen to the songs out of order, or while doing something else. It needs to be its own experience!

What's your preferred way of listening to music? (time of day, medium, situation)

I love my vinyl, but Spotify is so much more convenient! I'd listen to music from sun up to sun down if I could!

that being said, I really treasure my drink-coffee-car-karaoke on my way to work at 5;50 in the morning tho!!!

What would you say is the most niche music you listen to?

Hahaha! Either some of my cancon faves or Gaidhlig trad.

What's your favourite music-related movie/TV show that's not a musical?

Billy Elliot or School of Rock?

Albums or playlists?

It depends on my mood, but both is good!

Favourite albums?

Queen- Queen, Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, News of the World, Jazz, The Game, HOT SPACE, The works, A Kind of Magic, Miracle, Innuendo. (including; Mr. Bad Guy and BARCELONA)

Elton- Empty Sky, Tumbleweed Connection, Honky Chateau, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Captain Fantastic and the Dirt Brown Cowboy, Rock of the Westies.

The Clash (and Joe)- Give 'Em Enough Rope, London Calling, Sandinista, Combat Rock, Rock Art and X-Ray Style, Global A Go-Go.

Wham! (and George)- Fantastic, Make It Big, Music from the Edge of Heaven, Faith, Older, Music from the Last Century. Listen Without Prejudice (Vol. 1).

Is there an artist you're trying to get into?

more Black Sabbath, some of Elton's later stuff, more T.Rex, more Stones, more Bowie, more AC/DC, more LedZep, more Chuck Berry, more Jimi + general counterculture stuff! I want to round out my 60s/70s knowledge! Also, the Eurythmics!

Whose music do you find over-hyped?

Elvis and the Beatles....😬 (solely bc Elvis sang so many covers and I really only vibe with the harder Beatles stuff)

What's an underrated song?

The Fallen Priest ~ Freddie Mercury, Montserrat Caballe

Let Me Live / Lost Opportunity / Human Body ~ Queen

What's a thing a bunch of songs do that you love every time?

I ADORE when multiple instruments have solos or when there are 'movements' in a song, like BoRhap or IWYS being smushed into one track haha!

What song is better acoustic?

JUNCO 👏 PARTNER 👏

What's the worst song of all time?

I actually don't know. I loathe I'm Gonna Be by the Proclaimers and just as a convo starter, I'm not big on Under Pressure.

Do you put individual songs on repeat? If so, for how long and how often?

Yes!!! It depends, Somebody to Love is on repeat quite often, but usually I'll play something until I learn the lyrics or like the bits (haha, idek, like the solos n shit)

Do you make your own playlists? If so, what's your most entertaining playlist title?

I cleared out my shitty 3 song playlists and I have about 5 situational ones and then 2 mega ones! My favourite one rn is "in the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost(s)"

Headphones or earbuds?

When I'm stationary, headphones. Moving, earbuds.

Do you always sing the lead vocal or do you harmonize sometimes? If you harmonize, do you ever invent your own harmony?

I try to follow the lead, I match it by ear but I genuinely don't know if that's right. I just like to have fun!

A music confession

I'm sure what to put here

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tagging: @brian-ur-bruh @queenies-of-the-universe @delicatelyfantasticninja @freddie-moments @wastelandell (oh my gosh, I typed your URL in wrong and thought u deactivated and almost cried!) @musiccat1971 @thislookinyoureyes @wiesel-mercury @sparkleslightlyy @trinikins @wastingawayinquarantine and anyone else who'd like to join in!! 🥺💛💛💛