#back page feature

[fortheturnstiles]

Bob Dylan on Joan Baez, from Chronicles: Volume One (2004)

[biillys]

au where billy and max never move to hawkins indiana and therefore never sacrifice themselves to some freakass interdimensional monster that doesn't even exist for them and instead go on their own rocky messy complicated tragic journey to being the fucking siblings they deserve

[katabay]

there's something I do about once a week over on my other art blog, where I write a bit about whatever I'm working on, and I thought I'd start doing something like that over here!

that knight-priest illustration took off way further than I thought it would! it was actually a test run for a short comic idea I had been fucking around with: a disgraced lord who killed his brother and becomes a knight as a form of penance and ends up falling in love with a franciscan.

and underneath that notebook is the notebook I've been writing bad governance in. it is. ohh. the edits are many. I forgot to keep track of the election cycles, which is a huge oversight, since many of the characters are politicians.

[stardestroyer81]

Just in time for her canonical birthday, the plague doctor in training Quincy T. Page makes her long-awaited return to the blog... sporting a brand new redesign! 💜🖤💜

[thesokovianaccords]

(press you to) the pages of my heart

four: "come here. let me fix it."

a steggy friends to lovers au (also on ao3)

They were going to be late. Even for them.

(Though Steve would swear up and down it wasn’t his fault. Peggy would swear that he was lying.)

“It’s basically the same costume, anyway. How are you still not ready?”

“I had to send Tony an angry voice note first,” Steve shouted from his bedroom. “Really, it’s his fault we’ll be late.”

Peggy tapped their new and improved badges against the kitchen table. “Pepper’s a natural redhead. It makes more sense for them to be Mulder and Scully. Also, I somehow managed to make new badges, find realistic neuralyzers, and fix my costume before you tied your tie.”

“Well, I got into an in-depth debate with both of them over who deserved a quote-unquote ‘couple’s costume.’ That ate up some time.” Steve walked out into the living room, his eye roll audible across the apartment. “They both had lots of unsolicited opinions, so you’re welcome for sparing you from that.”

“My hero,” Peggy scoffed, grabbing their drinks and dropping next to Steve on the sofa, as he tied his shoes. “Hopefully the party will still be going when we get there.”

Steve sent her an incredulous look, and they both laughed. “Yes, right, fine. It was impossible to even think that with a straight face.”

“Sometimes I still feel hungover from their 4th of July party.”

“Ah yes, the Steve Rogers Birthday Bash, T-M,” Peggy said, holding up her hands in brackets to showcase the trademark with the aplomb it deserved. And because he always glared at her when she did it.

“Yeah, yeah, hilarious. So funny. I’m dying of laughter.” Steve pushed himself to his feet and pulled Peggy up to hers too. “Are you ready, Agent P?”

“What are you saying, Agent S? Don’t I pass muster?”

He gave her a once-over so quick she might have been insulted, if the warm weight of his gaze hadn’t pinned her in place for those few seconds. Her breath caught for an embarrassing moment as his eyes returned to hers. “You look beautiful. And deadly. Perfect, as always—except your tie is crooked.”

“It is not.” Peggy had no idea whether that was true—Steve’s compliments had thrown her for a loop, and recalibrating herself to focus on what he was actually saying was taking longer than it normally did.

He set their glasses on the coffee table and pulled her to their entryway. “Would I lie to you?”

“Yes,” she retorted, but unfortunately her tie was, in fact, listing to one side. “I swear I had it sorted—it must have gotten bored waiting for you to be ready too and decided to relax.”

Steve snorted as she loosened the knot and began to loop the fabric over itself again, but no retort came. He just watched her hands in the mirror as she pulled the long end of the tie through and tightened the knot. But once again, it hung slightly off to the side, and she groaned at her reflection. “These things are bloody impossible. I don’t know how you wear them every day.”

“It just means I have a lot of practice. Come here,” he said, dropping his hands to her shoulders and spinning her around. “Let me fix it.”

Peggy considered the possibility, with Steve’s knuckles brushing against her neck as he re-knotted her black tie, that she was dreaming. Or that she had taken complete leave of her senses. She and Steve were so often in sync—and naturally so, without any conscious thought behind it—that when they weren’t, when they seemed to be in the midst of wildly diverging experiences of the same event, Peggy felt unmoored. Speechless, even. How else could she explain Steve’s efficiency, his apparent immoveabiity, while she was left breathless at the sweep of his hands across her collar? And how was she meant to deal with this new reality, the one where she and her best friend were horribly, perhaps permanently, out of sync, and one wrong word or move could tear everything down?

Steve, oblivious to Peggy’s personal crisis, stepped back and placed his hands on her shoulders again. “There,” he said, a soft smile on his face. “Perfect. As always.”

Peggy placed a hand over the knot and cleared her throat. “As are you, Steve,” she said, relieved her voice stayed steady. “Now, let’s go save the universe. With tequila shots, preferably.”

He laughed and ran his hands down her arms, before taking a single step back. “Yes, ma’am.”

[marvelmusing]

Not me spending literal hours trying to make In Another Life into a physical book

I’m blaming @dreamlandcreations (affectionately)

[plounce]

TFW YOU ACCIDENTALLY POST YOUR SILLY FFXIV TIMELINE HEADCANONING TO YOUR CAT ART BLOG BC DESKTOP TUMBLR NOW DOES NOT DEFAULT TO YOUR MAIN BLOG EVEN WHEN REBLOGGING!!!!!!!

[toasteaa]

This draft isn't even actually a draft, it's just me putting down my full thoughts FOR the draft. Why is it already 45 fucking pages long, I'm going to throw myself off a cliff

[blogalreadydoesntexist]

sometimes i hate my art and art style and worry over designs and shit then i remember that my stuff will always be factually more diverse than shit like kooleen (i can draw hooked noses and not sob about 'how much ''better'' they would look' if i didnt do that and forced the random ass characters face into some traced 90s yaoi manga ass face template and made them some generic white blonde blue eyed anime boy from fujoshit 'art' that is 'so clearly' the character (cough cough if you showed me her drawing of ken i wouldnt know its ken because she cant even draw ANY features properly))

[get-back-homeward]

Guess what arrived this week!

I never buy reissues let alone preorder, but I had a hunch this set would be worth having, and I’m very happy with it. They look lovely together.

There's a nice little essay in each booklet that feels very appropriate for the times. You can read them here and here. If I had anything to complain about I'd say the CD sleeves are pretty risky. They're so tight, you gotta pinch them just right to get the CD out without scratching. I doubt I'm putting them back to their original spots. The spot behind the booklet is wide enough and will work fine as a substitute if you have single protective sleeves for each disc.

But all I really care about is the sound. And man, the sound knocks me out. Giles really outdid himself with these mixes. The only one I'd say I'm truly unhappy with is I Am The Walrus. The 2017 mix was fine to me, and messing with the ending seems silly, but it's easy enough to swap out. Out of 75 tracks, I expect a few to not be my favorite. It's more than worth it for the tracks that have clarified the sound and helped me to hear details I couldn't before.

The big changes are the additional songs, including George's songs and covers, and the 2023 mixes. With the backwards reissues, it's the Red Album that has the most new mixes here. They really surpass my expectations. This is the best I've ever heard their 1963 songs. Disc 1 adds I Saw Her Standing There, Twist and Shout, Roll Over Beethoven, This Boy, You Really Got a Hold On Me, and You Can't Do That. Disc 2 adds If I Needed Someone, Taxman, Got to Get You Into My Life, I'm Only Sleeping, Here There and Everywhere, and Tomorrow Never Knows. I have no qualms with any of them, they all feel like they belong here.

The biggest advantage of these newest mixes is the space between parts. It helps to hear Ringo's drums and percussion better in one part and George's guitar in another, hear Paul's bass here and harmonies there. I don't find any of the mixes too drastic save Walrus but together they really elevate the listening experience.

I found myself flagging John's songs as sounding best, and I think that may be a function of hearing more of the layers underneath along with the clarified vocals. Some of his harmonies with Paul just sound exceptionally good with this new tech. Norwegian Wood is a standout, as is Ticket to Ride. Norwegian Wood seems to push John's vocals further to the front instead of getting masked by the acoustic. The three-part harmonies sound divine on This Boy and Nowhere Man. I've seen criticism about the space changing the magic of the Rubber Soul tracks. If you don't like it, it's easy enough to swap out, but I didn't really have a problem with it.

On the Blue Album, of the five new mixes, Magical Mystery Tour and Hey Bulldog stand out best. It's actually kinda embarrassing how much I was missing from MMT before. I felt halfway through like I was listening to a brand new song. My one quibble is the strange placement of Hey Bulldog. It expected it to follow Lady Madonna on Disc 1 for roughly chronological order but instead it's between Blackbird and Get Back on Disc 2. I guess they were going by order of original release instead of recording date order used in the Anthology. But it was the one place the order threw me for a loop.

Placing Now and Then at the end of this hefty 75 track list is a controversial choice perhaps, but I think it bears the weight of the legacy well. Particularly because it's following The Long & Winding Road, which ends on Paul's plea: Don't leave me waiting here Lead me to your door

Now and Then starts with John's confession: I know it's true It's all because of you And if I make it through It's all because of you

It feels like a continuation of a conversation. An answer.

Paul's lyrical input is small but powerful, adding "will" and "always" to add certainty to John's cool now and then I miss you. Two lines were incomplete and required that Paul finish them. The completed line packs a punch: I want you to be there for me Always to return to me

This is officially the last Lennon-McCartney lyric, constructed across decades. But it doesn't feel like an ending, only a completed circle. Perhaps because this ending so seamlessly loops back to the beginning again: Love love me do You know I love you I'll always be true So plea-ee-ee-ease Love me do

And I guess if you want to go further: I'll do anything for you Anything you want me to If you'll be true to me

You can find bits across the track list that link as well: Now and then I feel so insecure Know that I just need you like I never done before

I’ll get to you somehow/until I do I’m telling you so you’ll understand

Life is very short and there’s no time for fussing and fighting my friend

Though I know I’ll never lose affection for people and things that went before I know I’ll often stop and think about them

To lead a better life I need my love to be here

Had you gone you knew in time we’d meet again for I had told you

Knowing that love is to share, each one believing that love never dies

Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns and calls me on and on across the universe

It leaves me with an abundance of multiverse AU feels in the vein of Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Maybe there is something out there, some new discovery, that will make us feel like even smaller pieces of shit. Something that explains why you still went looking for me, through all of this noise. And why, no matter what, I still want to be here with you. I will always want to be here with you.

I would just like to say, in another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you.

We live in the world they chose music and fame, and the songs they leave us with is their legacy and our gift.

The press for these releases has been a mess. But the BBC Eras series on The Beatles ends on two quotes that been stuck in my head all week:

It’s the last song that my dad and Paul and George and Ringo will get to make together. You know, even though it took a long time, it feels very synchronous that the lyric speaks about time and that it’s taken so much time and that it sort of fuses the past and present. It's like a time capsule. And it all feels very meant to be or fated or something. In the nicest sense. —Sean Lennon

When I remember the Beatles, I remember the joy. The talent. The humor. The love. And I think if people remembered us for that, for those things, I’d be very happy. —Paul McCartney

Full circle, indeed.

[troutreznor]

did something with my desktop theme for the first time in a long time

[agentravensong]

look i know hamlet is like, one of the most famous pieces of literature of all time, and so i shouldn't really be surprised to see it referenced in places, but you kind of expect certain bits to be more likely to pop up than others right? but then sometimes you're reading a memoir for class and you get to this:

and you just go. oh. the me of a month ago wouldn't have known this, but.

[cjgladback]

For the first time in a long while, I got to go to a white elephant gift exchange this December! We had a low price ceiling and my practically wins out over any practical joke sensibilities every time, so on the designated shopping day I left my local overstock store with a nice chopstick set, some fancy (not at all mess-free) popcorn, and a dream.

When I was growing up, my mom was an intrepid homeschooling parent who loved event planning, valued cultural exploration, and had married into a Japanese family. Multiple times - sometimes in the setting of a multicultural fair, at least once as a kind of class party (with celebratory takeout at the end) - she faced teaching large groups of children how to use chopsticks quickly and with as little cost and cleanup as possible.

Her answer was popcorn! It's edible, so you get the full motion down, and lightweight but large enough for less coordinated sticks to pinch. It has tons of nubbins to grab and widely varied shapes to experiment with. Specifically, we used air-popped kernels, without oil or toppings, so when it gets overzealously crushed or bounces away and gets missed by a broom, it's basically biodegradable styrofoam.

What I'm saying is, this is my mom's fault. Other than the choice to draw so many hands in one afternoon on the same day as the party, while also baking a snack. That's all me. This primer was delivered in the format of a tiny booklet (if you look up an "eight page zine" that's also a method I learned from my mom, to turn single-sided misprints into notepads), with fewer jokes and tips than I'd have liked because I simply did not have time to transcribe a hashi rest fold or hairstyle. But reformatted (for Mastodon) it looks fairly respectable.

Lengthy image descriptions and full poster format under the cut.

[ID: A title page reads "How to Use Chopsticks" in all caps. The words "without too much mess" are between two straight, orange lines, which start with round points at the left, evoking chopsticks, and end in flared shapes of a silhouetted splash on the right. Below the lower line are the words "by CJ Gladback." All the text is in black, the background is white but appears light orange due to a repeating geometric watermark pattern of CJ's logo in orange overlaid on the whole image; her handle on most sites is included once on each of the following spreads: @cjgladback​

Next is the first spread of four illustrations with their instructions. On the left half of page are two line drawings of a right hand holding one and then two chopsticks, with the text, "The first stick rests on the side of your ring finger's nail and the flesh between your thumb and index finger. Your middle finger's pad holds it securely while it can slide against your thumb as your hand changes posture in use. The second stick is held between the knuckle of your thumb and the middle section of your index finger. This is the one you move to change angles; it may touch but doesn't really rest on the middle finger's tip." In orange, two arrows indicate the rest points for the first stick while small hashes emanate from the points pressed on the middle and ring fingertips and under the thumb's joint holding the top stick. On the right upper quadrant of the page is the text "Hold them close to parallel to scoop." A hand holds two sticks poked into a bowl of rice between the viewer and the palm; a series of parallel orange lines emphasize the space between the sticks. The remaining quadrant's text reads, "Press with your index finger to pinch firmly." This hand is holding an indistinct rounded shape in its chopsticks, with an orange arrow indicating the rotation of the index finger's tip to press the top stick's point toward the bottom's.

Next is the final spread of the pamphlet. The upper right text reads, "Practice with something medium sized and low mess like (air-popped) popcorn." A single piece of popcorn is held in disembodied chopsticks above a full popcorn bowl, with several kernels fallen to the surface below it. Text below reads, "Pick up your dishes to bring close to your mouth to scoop the harder to grab foods." An implied tilted bowl of food (fried rice or porridge with diced pieces) protrudes off the page, covering only the lower left corner. Close-up chopsticks have their points buried in the food and their lines fade out toward the right. The final black text, underlined by two orange chopstick shapes, reads, "but most of all, do what feels comfortable and eat well!" In orange in the lower right corner, the parenthetical "(and maybe knit a scarf)" is followed by a small orange drawing of a steaming bowl of noodles and sliced egg with a noodle line trailing toward two upward angled sticks with loopy hashes indicating knit fabric hanging from them.

The final image is the full booklet in its web format, with the three previous images from this post stacked vertically. Some orange lines have been added between what were pages in the print booklet, to aid reading flow. /end ID]

[excavatinglizard]

Just wanted to share a couple of fun little no-context comics I did for my sci-fi short story (because if you’re an artist…might as well do some art for your own things, right?)

(Slight…body horror(?) below the cut)

[shiroselia]

[dexaroth]

webbed site redesign is erm. going somewhat smoothly 👍

not much wrong with the previous one, this one is just easier to mantain and integrate with character page visuals since i gave up on skeuomorphism stuff

plus its also not a complete nightmare to adapt to mobile B) but it loses a bit of the charm the previous one had with its diagonally mirrored panels n whatnot. ah well you win some you lose some