#due to technical issues had to take a picture ^^’

[poisonous-properties]

“WHY ARE YOU?!- STOP IT!!-”

[CLANG. CRASH. BOOM.]

“that’s gonna cost so much money…”

[highvern]

Dessert First (TEASER)

Pairing: Kim Mingyu x f!reader

Genre: baker! mingyu, wedding planner!YN, fluff, smut, angst, exes to lovers

warnings: lots of mentions of food

Teaser Length: ~1k | Full Fic Length: ~15k

Note: bringing back my boo mingyu for @camandemstudios Lonely Hearts Cafe Collab. check out all the amazing fic (26 in total) on the master list. everyone has worked so hard and im so excited to read them thank u pookie @gyuswhore for beta reading

summary: You've got a great life. Your wedding planning business is booming, your clients are great, and you're finally over your ex-boyfriend after years of pining. Or you are, until the universe decides to test if those three things are actually true.

collab m.list || m.list

This blog is intended for 18+ only! Minors/blank blogs will be blocked.

Comment to be tagged in the full fic coming February 17th!

It started with the coffee maker.

By all accounts you could buy a completely new one that actually worked but some sentimental part of you liked the baby blue machine with scratched enamel and an inability to brew a full pot in less than twenty minutes. If your coffee maker worked the way it was supposed to then you wouldn’t have left your apartment ten minutes late. And if you hadn’t left your apartment ten minutes late then you wouldn’t have arrived on the subway platform just as the train doors closed, forcing you to wait another ten minutes for the next train and by then the mist of rain outside devolved into a biblical downpour leaving you soaked to the bone despite a rain jacket and an umbrella. 

At least the binder containing every last detail of your life for the next two months is safe.

Sprinting down the street, your shoes squish through filthy puddles. No point in taking the extra time to dodge them, you’re already twenty minutes behind schedule with a ruined pair of brand new loafers. The only saving grace is Will and Sarah’s, your clients, habit of running at least thirty minutes behind. Which is why you told them the meeting started at 10AM and not 10:30. 

So technically you aren’t late. Yet. But you planned a thirty minute buffer to meet with the pastry chef and discuss color scheme, flavors, and logistics before Will and Sarah arrived to ensure everything went smoothly. As smooth as it can with clients that believe more is more and have no budget. 

The cafe bustles to the brim with people trying to escape the tsunami outside and enjoy something sweet. Damp businessmen sip cups of coffee while thumbing through damp newspapers, college students cram over notebooks with cookies by their side. A group of moms cluster on the couches, baby toys and lattes strung across the table while they share the latest playground drama. You can see yourself bunkered down at the table by the wide bay window, typing away emails and finalizing calendars with a hot cup of coffee and one of the massive croissants displayed on the counter.

Will and Sarah insisted on using Dessert First for their cake. They had their first date here and you can see why they love it so much. The display case sits packed with cakes and pastries; tarts with jewel like fruit, iced treats that make your mouth water. The heavenly scent of almond, vanilla, and coffee clouded the air. Plants hung from the ceiling, a shelf in the far corner stacked with pre-packaged goods to go.

You can almost forget the chill seeping into your veins from the cozy aroma of vanilla and espresso. A perfect oasis in the middle of the overcrowded city.

You’re still ten minutes early according to your watch. Plenty of time to devise a battle strategy with whatever unfortunate baker owns this place. You couldn’t find anything about them online, no pictures or reviews that mentioned them by name; only one article in the city newspaper announcing the grand opening last year which obviously resented a bakery replacing the former pizza shop that was shut down due to a myriad of legal issues. Who knew money laundering was so prevalent?

Even when you called to schedule this meeting you couldn’t get a name, just one of the cashiers promising to put you on the calendar before hanging up without asking for any of your information.

Stepping towards the cash register, a lone employee taps a quiet beat on the counter with his fingers, lost in his own world. Vernon, his name tag reads. You're almost certain this is the same man you spoke to one the phone.

“Hi.” You plaster on your most convincing smile, hoping it distracts from the wet mess of your…everything. “I’m supposed to be meeting with the pastry chef. I’m—”

He cuts you off with a snap. “You’re the wedding planner lady, right?” 

“Yep, that’s me.”

“I’ll let him know you’re here. You want a coffee?”

“A coffee would be great,” you sigh in relief. 

“Cream? Sugar?”

“Nope, just black,” you nod. “Thanks.”

Vernon fills a mug almost to the top before sliding it across the counter and disappearing into the back with a swish of the kitchen doors. While he grabs the mysterious baker, you head towards the table in the window. It’s perfect. You can see the entire cafe and the street, with plenty of space for everyone to gather around. Plus, it’s far away from the A/C blowing steadily on the opposite side of the cafe.

At best, you hope your new colleague will take the stress of this wedding for the premium pay. Sarah and Will want a lot but they’re willing to put their money where their mouths are. And unfortunately, they’re nice. Pleasant to the point you can’t fathom telling them no.

There was a point where you felt the butterflies they felt, and you wanted the same dream wedding they wanted. Maybe that’s why you’re willing to do whatever it takes to give them the perfect day they envisioned. That, and the promise of high end clients if everything goes well.

You’re too busy organizing everything to perfection on the table to notice a new presence over your shoulder until he clears his throat. This isn’t how you planned to introduce yourself but you steel against the embarrassment of the morning and turn around. “Hi, I’m—”

Mingyu.

Any hope of this working shatters into a million pieces before your eyes.

Fuck.

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[wol-fica]

-Sucker Punch-

summary - sabrina’s ex shows up, you’re not amused

warnings - none :)

an - thought i’d drop this here while you wait for the better stuff

————

Barry Keoghan.

You didn’t like that name, not one bit.

Something you have learned by dating Sabrina Carpenter is that the media is constantly down her neck about every relationship she has been in. Her last one was too public and ended up falling out pretty bad due to lack of privacy, so when you asked her to be your girlfriend after being in a talking stage for a little, she swore to you that she would do whatever it takes to keep you out of the public view.

You never perceived any of her past lovers as problems, and you definitely never thought Barry to be a threat, but as time slowly crept on since Sabrina had broken up with him and met you, he had started to become an issue. It began with little things, like slightly condescending Instagram posts and comments on her pictures here and there. You weren’t bothered at first, being that your relationship with Sabrina was extremely secure to the point that you knew you were going to marry this girl, but it started to turn into an issue when he became bolder.

He began to flirt with her, sliding suggestive messages into her dm’s and dropping heart eye emojis on her posts almost every week. His ego was clearly damaged after being broken up with, and you believed that he was wounded by the rumors of you and Sabrina getting together. You wanted to excuse his choices as grief, wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and say it was just his emotions getting the better of him, but it crossed a line when he showed up to one of her shows to attempt to, in his words, “win her back.”

It was a sight to behold, and honestly comical with how he was arguing with a backstage crew member about wanting to see Sabrina, but all you felt was frustration with his demands.

“I’m tellin’ you, I need to see Sab.” Barry growled, his accent thick, “Where is she?”

The poor crew member, who was clearly a young high school boy trying to earn some cash as a cord carrier, was practically trembling in his boots. His eyes darted around quickly, clearly trying to find an escape from the situation he was trapped in. He locked his gaze with yours, a silent cry for help, and desperately gestured to Barry. You sighed and rubbed your temples, before waving him off and moving towards Barry.

“Hey! I wasn’t done talkin’ to you!” He yelled after the boy, throwing his hands in the air, “Fuckin’ hell…”

“Do you need something?” You asked, causing him to spin around to face you.

He eyed you up and down, seeming to size you up before addressing you. He was more muscularly defined than you and about an inch taller, but you had broader shoulders and more mass on your biceps, which evened both of you out. His brown eyes drilled into yours; an intimidation tactic that you were very familiar with but unphased by. He sniffed, puffed out his chest a little, and stepped up to you.

“I need to see Sabrina, do y’know where I can find her?” Barry said, faking politeness in his words.

It was more of a statement than a question, but you didn’t budge, “Sorry pal, she’s busy and I’m pretty sure you aren’t on her meet’n’greet list.”

His expression changed for moment, a flashing second of distaste crossing his features before he smiled condescendingly, “She knows me. I’m sure she won’t mind if I show up.”

You hummed, taking a sip of your water bottle before capping it and setting it down on the table next to you. You pulled out your phone, opening your messages to see that Sabrina had texted you, one single bubble saying:

“security told me that barry is here, im coming w them”

You clicked your tongue, typing back a quick “I’ll be here 😊”, and faced the seething man in front of you with a smile.

“She’s busy. Security is gonna come and escort ya’ out cause well…” You flicked a piece of lint off your shoulder, “You’re technically trespassing.”

His faux-happy expression dropped, the faint glow in his eyes disappearing almost instantly once you spoke. He stepped up to you, getting into your personal space. His breath smelled faintly like alcohol, and you got a much clearer perspective on where his attitude had grown from.

“You don’t know who you’re messin’ with.” He growled, poking a finger at your chest, “So it would probably be best if you tell me where she is.”

Your eyes flickered behind him, noticing the door open from afar and a group of people emerging. Two large security guards came first, big and burly looking with blank expressions. The second followed, a shorter woman dressed in grey sweatpants and a baby blue hoodie that enveloped her entire torso, with fluffy blonde hair falling around her shoulders and framing her gorgeous face.

Sabrina.

They all seemed to spot the two of you quite quickly, and the look on your girlfriend’s face was something you had never seen before. Anger flashed across her features, a protective instinct filling her eyes while her lips morphed into a frown. She pointed at Barry’s back, saying something to the security guards, and the two men began to hurry over to you two.

“The bitch wants me.” Barry sneered to you, gripping your collar, “Can’t get enough of this dick anyway.”

Your reaction was quick, swiftly pushing his hand off your shirt and sending your palm up into his nose. He recoiled in pain, spewing out curse words in your direction as he grasped at his face. You squared your shoulders, stepping back whilst fixing your shirt as security got to him. Blood poured down his face when they pulled him upright and began to drag him away, and you heard a couple insults thrown towards you during his tantrum.

“Her name is Sabrina; have some respect.” You stated as security dragged him away.

You sighed once the door swung shut, and turned to grab your water bottle before a body collided with yours. Sabrina threw herself at you, reaching up to cup your face and rambling about if you were hurt. Her eyes were wide and worry-filled, darting all around your face in search of an injury you may have received.

“Are you okay? Did he touch you?” She turned your head from side to side, “I swear to god I’m gonna kill that bi-.”

You silenced her with a gentle kiss, calmly pressing your lips to hers to soothe her anxiety. She melted into you, her hands falling to rest on your arms as you held her jaw. A hum escaped her throat, and she pouted when you pulled away from her. You chuckled, kissing her forehead as she giggled sweetly.

“I’m okay baby, promise.” You mumbled, swaying with her in your arms, “He didn’t do anything.”

Sabrina frowned, running her hands along your sides and playing with the hem of your shirt. You could sense her unsureness, so you took her hands and pressed them against your face, letting her fingertips feel the warmth of your skin. She cooed, rubbing her thumbs against your cheek bones lovingly.

“I’m sorry you had to deal with him.” She murmured, smiling when you leaned into her hand, “He had been texting and calling me all day; I had to block him because it was just so much.”

“Its okay beautiful, none of his choices were your fault.” You replied, pressing a kiss to her palm before intertwining your fingers, “You still have a show to do though.”

She grumbled something incoherent, waiting a moment so you could grab your water before tugging you along with her in the direction of her dressing room. She started talking about how she was now behind on getting in costume and her mic pack, but you were drowning everything out as you just stared.

Oh, how beautiful Sabrina was, so effortlessly gorgeous without even lifting a finger. The way her bangs framed her face so well, and the way her eye shined when she smiled; she was just so goddamn perfect. You soon realized she was giving you a look, and you paused your thoughts to stare back.

“What?” You asked, looking down at yourself before meeting her eyes again, “Do I have something in my hair?”

She giggled, causing your heart to beat extra fast, and tapped your nose with her finger, “We have got to get you to stop speaking your thoughts out loud baby, might get you laid in my dressing room later.”

Your face was a very deep shade of red for the rest of the day. ———————

hi moots

[sha-brytols]

I'm curious, since you've talked about how you enjoy the themes of Inquisition but not the execution, how would you rewrite the main story?

honestly i think just by virtue of making it more self-aware you would immediately fix like 75% of it's biggest issues. i mean the game already has sooooo much going for it in theory just by having it revolve around religion and faith and the way politics are inherently linked to both of those. i would love if the game actually dealt more with the implications of the inquisition being a theocratic military power that has to negotiate the fact that it's a) not officially part of the chantry anymore but still perpetuating the chantry's agenda and b) that there is literally no way it can ever hope to actually exist as a politically neutral force in the world. i think it would be very very easy to take the plot of inquisition and reframe it in such a way that the inquisition itself is the antagonist. not the inquisitor, not the advisors, but the very concept of a theocratic military force is inherently antithetical to the ideals you're trying to uphold. you cannot be both a force for peace and order and also a paramilitary organization with no oversight or accountability.

you know how dragon age origins is only kind of about the blight. like the blight is absolutely the big event that is driving all the major plot beats, but the game isn't really about fighting the archdemon. it's about the civil war that is going on in ferelden at the same time that happens to be creating the conditions under which the blight is allowed to fester. that's kind of what i think most people were expecting out of inquisition. a game that, in the most shallow and literal reading of it's premise, would technically be about closing the breach and killing the big bad guy, but would really be about the chantry schism that created the vacuum for someone to exploit in the first place. like the pieces were all There. we had the mage/templar war, we had that philosophical confrontation regarding the """true""" nature of spirits/demons and how much of it is perception, we had tevinter as a major player on the scene and a foil for the chantry's ideology and the way that gets taken advantage of. it was all there. but inquisition never really went for any of it. it introduced all this stuff and then the game just sort of. walks away? takes it completely at face value even despite those Liddol hints to a bigger picture.

and i know they kind of tried to fix this with the inclusion of trespasser and credit where it's due, trespasser DID address a LOOOOT of inquisition's most glaring shortcomings. it just. did it two years later in a short dlc. i want an actual version of the full game that goes into the actual meat of the chantry and all of its good and all of its bad. and i kind of? feel like? there WAS a version of that game somewhere in the blueprints? i mean i genuinely do not think it's possible to just accidentally stumble into all these hyper-specific plot beats right LOL like no matter how stupid you think bioware is you'd have to believe they're REALLY. REALLY. REALLY. REEEEEEAAALLLY stupid in order to believe that they never intended on any of that going anywhere. so it's not that i think the story is irredeemable, i think that like. somehow and for some reason a crucial element of its dna was removed, thus neutering its primary theme entirely and creating this hilarious oxymoron of a story that doesn't seem to realize its own irony

also i would make blackwall and cassandra bisexual.

[nathaslosthershit]

Tensions Rise (OP81)

(Part 6 of Teen Dad [Can be read on its own]) Summary: Tensions rise in the Piastri household until it gets to be too much.

Warnings: Angst! Mention of parental abandonment (Kind of), mention of childhood trauma (also kind of)

Only two weeks after their first debut at the Australian Grand Prix, the Piastri twins and their mother got to join the paddock once again for Suzuka, though it was different this time. The day had already started off badly when the kids threw the tantrum of all tantrums in their hotel room. Oscar had promised to take them to breakfast this morning but was unable to do so due to a last minute meeting. In the toddlers’ eyes, this was obviously unacceptable and with Oscar not there to face their tiny wrath, all of the high emotions got taken out on their poor mother who hadn't done anything wrong. She had even asked Oscar not to make any promises in case something like this happened.

This wasn’t the first time Oscar had broken a promise to them though. He had always put his family above his career and had established clear boundaries with all of his past teams. But since his success in F1, he has started to abandon those boundaries and made promises to his family that were just going to get thrown away when something came up with work. It sucked that the limited amount of time he was home he felt like he was trying to make up for missed plans, the guilt put him in a bad mood which in turn put the rest of the family in one as well. 

Honey, his fiancée, had continuously taken the brunt of the blame for Oscar being gone. Her kids didn’t understand why Daddy would tell them he would take them to breakfast but they would actually eat with Mommy instead. They didn’t understand why Mommy was always around but their Dad wasn't. The constant fighting from the twins at their mother had soon turned into Honey fighting with Oscar, continuously telling him to stop making her the bad guy, even if it was by accident.

Now, there was no denying that Oscar loved his family. He loved his kids and his wonderful fiancée above all else. He had surmised that the constant lack of accountability he had was draining on his family, and he felt terrible about it, but he truly didn’t understand how bad it had gotten.

The race went well, but due to a technical issue Oscar faced during qualifying, the debrief was going much longer than expected and with how important it was, his phone had been turned on do not disturb. He had promised to meet his family in a certain spot on the paddock but due to the long meeting, it had slipped his mind. 

The kids were tired, their Mother was tired, and Oscar was nowhere to be seen. After 15 minutes of waiting, their Mom telling them over and over that their Dad would be there soon, they started to get upset. Honey wasn’t mad at them, she was upset he wasn’t there too, but with how long the day had been, and how aggravating it was to keep hearing Oscar’s voicemail cause he wasn’t picking up the phone, she had no energy anymore. She was fine with letting them get out their tears, she knew they were only tired, but when she started to notice people stopping to watch and take pictures, she started to panic. She could only imagine what it looked like. A young, visibly angry mother on her phone with two screaming toddlers next to her who she wasn’t comforting. Too anxious over all the eyes on her, as this was only her second public appearance, she began to shut down.

Through a stroke of luck, or maybe all of her good karma paying off, the Piastro twins’ favorite honorary uncle appeared out of what seemed to be thin air, in reality it was a golf cart he had ‘borrowed’ from Williams to pick up the Piastri family. 

Logan wasn’t oblivious to the tensions that had been rising in the household. He had known the family for years and he knew about Oscar’s recurring problems with accountability. When he was walking to the McLaren garage after debriefings and saw Oscar was in a meeting with no other family members present, he put two and two together. 

“Let's get you all out here, alright?” He said as he parked next to them. After a few too many thank yous from Honey, the ride back was silent as she held her teary eyed kids. To her surprise, they went right past the Mclaren garage, straight to Williams’.

After setting the kids down for a quick nap in hospitality, she made her way to her new favorite person in the world.

“Logan, you are genuinely a life saver, I cannot thank you enough.” She said as she teared up.

“Hey, it's never a problem for my favorite family. I’m sorry he didn’t come meet you, I’m sure he was just b-”

“Busy, I know Logan, but how many times is he going to be too busy and I am going to have to pay for his mistakes or clean up his mess. My kids practically hate me now because I am always who they are stuck with when they want to be with their Dad.”

“They do not hate you. How could you ever think such a thing? Those kids love you more than anything, Honey. I know they are mad at you a lot but it is just displaced anger and sadness. I don’t know the full extent of everything, I cannot pretend to understand how difficult it has been, but you can always count on me, alright?”

“Thanks, Logan. I really can’t tell you how much it means to me that you are always here to help.”

“I told you, it's never a problem. Do you guys want me to call a car to the hotel? I am sure those kids could use a proper bed to sleep in after the long day.”

The ride to the hotel was quiet, except for the sniffles from the two toddlers. When they had been woken up again by their Mother without their Father in sight, they had started to tear up a little but luckily hadn’t gone back into a full breakdown. It still broke her heart to see them like this though.

Oscar had been whisked to meeting after meeting. He had completely forgotten about his prior commitments to meeting his family and with his phone forgotten on do not disturb, he was none the wiser on the situation waiting for him at the hotel. 

Honey had fortunately gotten the kids to go down for the night easily. Usually, it would take three stories and a few attempts to sneak out of bed before the Piastri twins went to sleep, but with all that happened that day, they had no fight in them which was a blessing because their Mother didn’t either. Once she was finally alone though, all the emotions she had been trying to push down came to the surface. Having to sob into her pillow to stop from waking her kids in the room connected to hers, she didn’t think she had cried that hard since she had found out she was pregnant at the age of 17. Back then, the uncertainty of whether Oscar would leave her or not was the driving factor, now it was whether he already had. Since he started to pull away, she had pushed the thought of him falling out of love with her to the depths of her mind. The thought was so unbelievably upsetting her mind immediately rejected it, but it still lingered. She didn’t think he had found someone else or that he was cheating, she knew Oscar well enough to know that was an impossibility, had there been someone else, he would have left already. But what really scared her was that he was choosing his career over them, after years of saying he could never do such a thing. She not only felt angry for herself but more importantly her kids. She grew up with a Mother that had picked her job over her family time and time again and she vowed to never do such a thing, which is why she decided to become a stay at home Mom rather than juggle a career on top of it all. She didn’t want them to go through the same thing with their Father. 

She had finally managed to calm down but as soon as she checked social media she started to break down again. Pictures of her, visibly upset and on her phone next to her crying toddlers had made their way to the internet. People were ruthless, saying the most awful things about her. Any support she had gotten seemed to be mostly from mothers. She agreed slightly that the photo did look awful and it was easy to fill in the blanks to make her seem like the villain, but it still hurt so much. 

At 9 pm Oscar finally got back to the hotel room. He had called Honey a few times but still being oblivious to the messages she had sent earlier, he was concerned and worried when she kept declining the call.

She sat on the bed watching the television, under the covers, all ready to go to sleep when he walked in. She didn’t acknowledge his presence, or even look at him when he said hi to her, apologizing for how late he was.

“Honey, what's wrong darling?” he asked as he took in her puffy red face and disheveled appearance. 

No answer. 

“Sweetheart?” It was a habit that annoyed Honey to no end, she loved when Oscar would use all kinds of pet names on her, hence her nickname of Honey, but he always used them excessively when they were fighting or he was in trouble which made her start to hate them. She didn’t want to hear them when she was mad at him. She knew he didn’t do it to be condescending but it had felt like it at times. 

“Did you see any of my messages?” While her voice was calm, he could hear the tone of anger she wasn’t trying to hide. 

He didn’t reply as he took out his phone and turned it off do not disturb. Immediately, tons of messages and missed calls came through, not just from Honey but from Logan, and Lando, and his family and friends who had begun to see the posts on social media. A chill ran through him as he realized what had happened, what he had unknowingly done. 

“Christ, Honey I am so sorry. I had a meeting so I turned my phone off for it and I completely forgot. I didn’t mean-”

“That's the problem Oscar! God, I am so sick of having to deal with all your broken promises. These past few months have been hell as I have had to deal with more and more. Do you understand how frustrating it is to hear you tell our sweet children that you will take them out for a special dinner, only to have to cook them mac and cheese quickly because at the last minute you texted to say you were stuck in a meeting.”

“And I felt terrible for that but I made it up-”

“You shouldn’t have to keep making it up to them though. If you kept your promises or didn’t make them in the first place, they wouldn’t start fighting with me and blaming me for your shortcomings!”

“I agree they shouldn’t do that. I will speak to them about it but it has been hard and I have had to put in more time for my career.”

“They won’t understand. They now associate me with the absence of you. Instead of Dad reading them a new story he said he would pick up on the way home, they are stuck with Mom reading the same story they have already heard before. They were supposed to visit Dad at the factory but now they are stuck at the park with Mom. Oscar, they hate me now! They can’t stand to be around me because I am always there. All I do is clean up your mess and all I get in return is kids fighting me because I am not you. I am so tired of it all!”

Silence filled the room once more. Honey had finally gotten all she had been meaning to say out and Oscar didn’t have a rebuttal. 

“I am sorry, Honey. I am so, so, so sorry. I love them more than anything, I love you more than anything. It has just been hectic and hard to balance both my career and my family life.”

“I am not asking you to balance it, I am asking you to start putting us first. You have made it clear where your priorities lie and I will not stand around and let my kids go through the same thing I did with my own Mom, having to watch as she picked her job over us. Until you can set boundaries again and stop making promises you can’t keep, I can’t do this with you.”

“What do you mean you ‘can’t do this with me’?” Oscar asked, praying it wasn’t what he thought it was.

Honey didn’t answer, just took off her engagement ring and put it on his side of the bed, then walked to her kids’ room and closed the door.

HoneyBunny81

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HoneyBunny81 just me and my babies

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Part 2 out now!

[iwillbringyouruin]

Visions Magazine with Tobias Forge on the idea behind Rite Here Rite Now, the importance of soundtracks in general and how he distinguishes between himself and his characters (Visions Magazine issue nr. 377, 08/2024)

Full translation of the included interview by me below the cut - buckle up, this is a long post! There are no spoilers for RHRN in this.

Markus Hockenbrink: Tobias, have you ever watched the movie Metallica: Though The Never?

Tobias Forge: Yes, once, when it had just come out. The topic Metallica came up when we were taking care of the funding for [RHRN]. Every larger production company – and I have to emphasise here that this was before Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour and her extremely successful movie about it – voiced a lot of concern back then whether anybody would still be interested in concert movies. I had to explain time and again that my movie wouldn’t be a typical concert movie, to which I was asked several times: “Oh, so something like Through The Never?” I had to deny that again. We tell a story in our movie most of our fans are already familiar with. So it’s not an entirely new concept, which is already the first distinction from Through The Never. If you only consider that there is a concert part and a feature film part, then those two movies are probably similar. But that also applies to La La Land.

M. Hockenbrink: You describe your movie as a combination of Kiss’ Alive II, Ralph Bakshi cartoons and silent film horror. Is that a kind of childhood dream that comes true there?

T. Forge: Definitely. For as long as I’ve been interested in music, I’ve also been interested in film and television. Working in film could have also been a career option for me, but I always got the rather annoying impression that one would have to go to film school to really find a place in that field. School was never my strong suit, I see myself more as a autodidact in that regard. That I had the opportunity to work on/contribute to my own movie as a sorcerer’s apprentice of sorts is a real privilege. That is a dream come true but it is also something I can picture more of in the future. Next time maybe without the band.

M. Hockenbrink: Can you remember a specific moment in your life when you realised that you were especially drawn to topics that are slightly morbid and unsettling?

T. Forge: I think that due to my family I came in contact with vastly different kinds of pop culture from a very young age. In more traditional families with more conservative parents and siblings of similar ages, you only really start with your respective journey to find yourself in your teens. Then there are often restrictions that are meant to distract from those darker influences. My parents on the other hand are very liberal and my brother was 13 years older than me. There were never limits or censorship for me. My childhood didn’t go by without rules entirely, but I was always allowed to watch or listen to what my brother was also watching or listening to. That way I was exposed to all kinds of teenage culture from the beginning. Sure, I also liked Pippi Longstocking and He-Man. But that was always combined with the French arthouse films my mother liked to watch or the horror flicks my brother was into. I can’t recall a particularly striking horror film experience, but I still remember the first time it dawned on me that movies don’t just exist, they’re made.

M. Hockenbrink: How do you mean?

T. Forge: My father worked as a documentary maker in television. His job was to connect the video track and the sound track in a fitting way for different film production. I saw Jaws on television with him as a small child. It’s important to note that my father is not somebody who can just quietly enjoy films but somebody who likes to butt in. Thanks to him I already had a kind of epiphany during the introduction. He said: “Look closely! There is nothing to see in this underwater scenery except the algae. Technically completely harmless. But it only takes the ominous music to turn the whole scene into pure horror already!” And I thought: Wow! That’s true! Later in the movie you only have to hear that music and it immediately puts you on edge, even when there’s nobody in the water right now. They don’t even have to show the shark anymore. I found it fascinating that the [viewer’s] senses/perception could be manipulated like that. Ever since, I’ve been viewing films with different eyes. I can still allow myself to dive into the story but at the same time I see the practical aspect to film-making.

M. Hockenbrink: I had a similar feeling during the introduction of Shining: technically a cozy road trip in the mountains, but a pure nightmare with the music.

T. Forge: I’m with you on that. Shining is one of the best movies of all time. And funnily enough, only the intro sequence was actually shot in nature. All the other scenes, even if they were outside, were filmed in the studio. Exactly that kind of craftsmanship is what I find inspiring.

M. Hockenbrink: With that in mind, what makes a good soundtrack in your opinion?

T. Forge: We already talked about Jaws, but I can think of Eyes Wide Shut as another example. There is that short piano theme that comes up again and again, incredibly effective. A good soundtrack needs to deliver something that you don’t have to be able to see to perceive its existence. Sure, there are no monsters in Eyes Wide Shut, aside from the main character’s jealousy as an internal monster maybe. But just like the music in Jaws, the theme from Eyes Wide Shut symbolises something that doesn’t have to be shown. The sound is enough. That is also a commonly used effect in adventure and love movies. You just put in a short vignette to describe the love between two characters. In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker also has his own theme, that is used every time when things get emotional and you’re supposed to feel that hope. You’ve got to pay attention to that. Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th also has a personal theme to recognise him by. Every time you hear it you immediately know “Oh shit, he’s nearby!”

M. Hockenbrink: What about soundtracks that are made up of songs?

T. Forge: With that, I’m especially thinking of Silence of the Lambs. In the scene where Buffalo Bill dresses up as a woman and dances around his basement, a song called Goodbye Horses by Q Lazzarus is playing. I have no idea how the artist felt about that since the song is now so irrevocably connected to that awful scene, that you can’t listen to it anymore without thinking of it.

M. Hockenbrink: Do you feel like soundtrack work is more appreciated now than it used to be?

T. Forge: I think that it’s definitely gained importance over the last 40 years. The right song on the right soundtrack can be incredibly powerful. Just think of Stranger Things. Obviously, Metallica and Kate Bush already had successful careers before, but what happened with Master of Puppets and Running Up That Hill following the series was something else entirely. The songs were associated so strongly with the narrative, that way more people listened to them than before. Of course I’m a strong advocate for live music but I also realised that nothing is as strong as the connection of visuals and music. That is still the most powerful way to appeal to a deeper emotion through the association.

M. Hockenbrink: More or less a shortcut to the subconscious.

T. Forge: Exactly. But you can’t be cynical about that either. If I was an A&R person at a big label, I would probably also say: “You just have to find a spot for one of your songs on a popular soundtrack, then you’ll have made it!” That’s really how it is. But when you view it from an artistic perspective, when you want to reach people a certain way or bring across a certain message or a certain feeling, the combination of visuals and sound can’t be topped.

M. Hockenbrink: It especially lends itself to an immersive experience, as seems to be in the foreground of [RHRN]. An album by Black Sabbath or Iron Maiden ends at some point, then you’re gone from that metal world again. With Ghost, however, you get the feeling that the illusion just keeps on going, across several media. Did you plan the Ghost mythology like this from the start?

T. Forge: In part. When I started with the band, I only wanted to make a standalone album. The concept was supposed to be interesting and practical, but I wasn’t planning for Ghost to be a huge thing. The style I pictured has its own limits in my opinion. The band was supposed to function a certain way and appeal to a certain target audience. The concert was supposed to be a theatrical performance in the literal sense. Ghost were never supposed to perform in a normal rock club nor go on tour. I wanted more of a kind of Vaudeville show in a proper plushy theatre. The band was supposed to be as anonymous as the actors that stand on stage and play, say, Faust. The idea behind this was: Those who don’t know who the people are on stage are more ready to follow the story. Then we would perform three days back-to-back in select cities. Berlin, Amsterdam, London. Just like Diamanda Galás who can more likely be found at a culture festival than in a rock shack. But things turned out differently in the end, and I had to kiss my original ideas goodbye again, so to speak.

M. Hockenbrink: Why?

T. Forge: After the success of our debut album, it became clear to me that more conventional concerts were going to be demanded of us and that I could only really say yes or no. This problem became worse after our shift to a bigger label. It became clear that my vision of telling stories clashed with the live sector and requirements for success more and more. At a certain point anonymity doesn’t work anymore and I had to make peace with that in the end.  I originally didn’t even want to do interviews but that’s obviously tricky when you want to sell records. The question that I constantly ask myself since is how I can do those things best in the Ghost way without denying the original Vaudeville spirit.

M. Hockenbrink: In his autobiography Golf Monster, Alice Cooper talks about himself in third person a lot when he is talking about his character. Are you feeling similarly at this point?

T. Forge: At least I can definitely see where he’s coming from. There is a difference between the person Vincent Furnier and the character Alice Cooper. I believe that he was on the verge of completely transforming into Alice Cooper at one point – to the point where one has to decide where they want to live or die. In the end he decided to remain Vincent Furnier and only become Alice Cooper for work, on stage. So far I’ve been fortunate to combine the two pretty well, but had I started Ghost ten years earlier in my life, it would have probably affected me similarly to how Alice Cooper did with Vincent Furnier in his time. But with my humble experience as an actor I have to say: every character you play becomes a part of you to a certain extent. You have to find certain qualities – good or bad – within yourself to bring such a character to life. I think that most actors only play one or two roles throughout their life that they then end up being known for. The different characters that I’ve portrayed on stage are not only very similar but actually also a part of me. Fortunately a part of me that I don’t want to deal with all day long.

M. Hockenbrink: Too cynical and antisocial?

T. Forge: Cardinal Copia or Cardi, as I like to call him, is not an all-around cool person, but that makes him so fun to play for me. He is half Freddie Mercury and half Jacques Clouseau. Kind of clumsy, kind of silly, kind of stupid. The kind of guy who trips over his own feet but catches himself elegantly. That’s also me in a way, but not just. And I think that’s easier to embody than a daredevil hero character who can rival anyone and gets all the ladies. When somebody plays only those characters their whole life, it will probably really go to their head. Especially when there are drugs involved on top of that.

M. Hockenbrink: With all that fondness of doom that can be found with Ghost, that universe also has something humorous about it, benign even. It that an intentionally included contradiction?

T. Forge: Yes, and it is also very important to me that it comes across like that. For me that also has something to do with the evolution of metal. Originally it was mostly a phenomenon connected to the youth, nowadays the musicians and their fans are close to retiring. That brings a certain maturity. Even the Norwegian black metal musicians who were super pissed and extreme 30 years ago and were only made of hate and aggression are well-adjusted people now. Bearded fathers and grandfathers with a pleasant view on life that make others laugh. I see a certain duality there. Everything that has something to do with goth, with metal, with horror, appears dark, dismal and hostile at first. But in reality, that can all be extremely life-affirming and a source of great joy for many people. So pretty much the opposite.

M. Hockenbrink: Speaking of horror: could you imagine making a real feature film some day?

T. Forge: Yes, I would love that. I’m well aware that it’s not going to be easy to make what I’m picturing a reality, just because I’ve done directing once with [RHRN] now. The creative liberty I got to enjoy there also was due to the fact that I funded the movie myself. So nobody was meddling with it. That is likely completely different when you work on behalf of a big studio, because we are talking about different sums here. If I only go off my dreams, I would name two points of reference. One is Shining, the other Bram Stoker’s Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola. I would like to make a movie that’s only shot in a studio, with elaborate sets, matte painting and all that. No outside shots, no special effects, no green screen. And no actors who only gets to see what they were actually doing after the fact. Proper old-school. The way movies are actually meant to look.

[pacing-er]

Krakoa Era Reading List Cherik Version (part 7)

Disclaimer! There are a lot of titles I'm skipping in this period, simply because they focus on characters and plotlines that I don't care about. This story is complicated enough without side plots.

22. Hellfire Gala: Fall of X

I really liked this one! Any comic that shows off Charles powers is a 10/10 for me and this one is no exception. Added bonus is that he is wearing this super cute angel-inspired costume:

Also he looks so freaking pretty here omfg.

As is standard for all Hellfire Galas something goes horribly wrong, but this time it is much harder to come back from. Moira and Orchis show up with a bunch of Nimrods and reveal that they had interfered with the Mutant's medicines for mankind and installed a kill-switch which they use to take humankind hostage. Threatening Charles with mass human death, they force him to mind control all of the mutants on Earth to send them into the portals and off of Earth. Little did he know that they also hacked the portals, effectively turning them into meat-grinders which he just forced all of his people into (as far as he knows at least). Orchis then activates the kill-switch and many humans die anyways, but Charles in an act of desperation extends his powers to make it so they feel no pain and die peacefully. Idk I just thought that was a nice detail. The comic ends with a majority of mutant kind presumed dead, Emma leading the few survivors and an emotionally broken Charles sending Rogue off to "Avenge Krakoa". Very bleak stuff. It's all downhill from here folks!

23. Immortal X-Men (Issues #14-18)

Very cool, very convoluted. Basically covers two storylines: Xavier uncovering vital truths with the help of the Sinister that had been implanted inside of him, Hope and Exodus leading the mutants in the Noplace they'd been sent to after Hellfire Gala. A whole lot of twists and turns and it ends with a big reveal that I thought was super cool so I won't spoil it. Mother Righteous continues to ruin things for the mutants, and it's revealed that she was the one who hacked the portals to send them all to the White Hot Room (the mutant afterlife) in order to use Jean's power to become a Dominion. I liked Charles part in this comic a lot despite him spending a lot of it sitting around depressed in the ruins of Krakoa. At first we are led to believe that he is using his telepathy and newfound telekinesis to massacre the Orchis agents that Shaw brought there, but it is revealed to be the remnants of Sinister inside of him doing the killing. I like that it allows us to see how efficient and deadly he could be without conflicting his morals. He also has a beard in this comic which is... Something. I don't hate it.

Charles dynamic with the Sinister inside of him was very enjoyable imo. Hope and the other mutants were also very interesting, and I dig the Jewish parallels with them all stuck wandering in the desert "diaspora" in search for the Promised Land. They actually use those exact words.

That's the end of the Immortal X-Men run! This title in particular had some of my favorite moments so I'm definitely gonna pick up a physical copy for it

24. Jean Grey

Technically a prelude to the previous entry, in which we see Jean explore several different potential outcomes for mutantkind as she waits to be resurrected. It explains her appearance in the White Hot Room. Charles and Erik are in the first issue of this title, with special emphasis put on their relationship. We see Jean put Magneto into a catatonic state, believing that it would be better for mutants if he was out of the picture. Charles of course freaks out and immediately kicks the X-Men out of the mansion, and when they later return they find that Charles has restored Erik's mind and the two of them are living together. Due to the lingering effects of Jeans powers Erik is now wheelchair bound, so they're matching! The rest of this title covers Jean's various relationships and sort of serves as a character analysis.

25. The Resurrection of Magneto

I think that enough is explained at this point to read this story. Arakko was not affected by Charles command to walk into the portals, but they were busy dealing with a civil war so they are late to the game. Ororo goes into the mutant afterlife to retrieve Magneto's soul, since after the events of the Hellfire Gala Charles is no longer stable enough to lead the mutants. Some really epic symbolism and references to various moments in Magnetos history are shown, including the iconic scene from the original Trial of Magneto comic. Overall a great analysis of Magneto as a character, but the cherry on top was the focus put on Charles and Erik's relationship. Man is obsessed with Charles and it shows. Definitely a must-read for Cherik fans. I'd include some screen caps but I'd basically be sharing the full comic so I recommend you just read it.

I'm taking another break to read some older X-Men comics I got for the holidays so I'm cutting this one shorter than anticipated. Next are Fall of the House of X, Rise of the Powers of X, and X-Men: Forever! Then I need to go through Duggan's X-Men comics and see what I missed since the reading order lists I'm using and the titles on the free comic site don't match up and it's a whole thing. But I'm almost to the end! The next Krakoa era reading list should be my last 🎉🎉🎉

[shawtythatluvsurgut]

hey guys. i got back from seeing my dad (i was gone all of september doing that) and realized that im $150 short on rent for this month. i lost around 50 subs from that one month i took away and i totally understand and am not mad at anyone for unsubbing, but it’s put me in a pickle for paying my rent in november. by a pickle, i mean that im $150 short. it’s embarrassing to admit this, but i miscalculated when i bought my tickets to stay longer and thought id have enough for my upcoming rent. technically i should have had enough, but losing that many subs really put a dent in my finances. i’m kinda stressing right now so if anyone can send anything id appreciate the help so so much. i will also send personalized content as a thank you. you can also help by subscribing to my OF (im back to posting somewhat regularly) so that we both benefit.

i’m sorry that the disneyland plan didn’t work out. i was looking forward to eating good, way too expensive food, but my dad’s health took a turn. that’s why i made the last minute decision to cancel disney and extend my trip in north cal. i couldn’t get a refund because disney is full of cash cows, so im kinda screwed right now. i’m glad i recalculated before the first of november hit because i can at least try to see if anyone can help.

also, i have video ideas coming to my OF. right now i want to keep my weight somewhat consistent or maybe gain slowly because i, too, have been having some minor health issues (not due to gaining, but gaining isn’t helping right now). I AM NOT LOSING WEIGHT OR PLANNING TO. I am just going to go easy on how fast i gain. i have a stuffing video planned for this month, along with my usual pictures semi-daily.

i just needed to be upfront and let everyone know what is going on with me. my dad is dying, i’m in school and i hate it, school has been taking up a LOT of my free time, i didn’t calculate my money correctly, and i got my meds switched. i feel like a zombie lately. and i may have lost a friendship/relationship that was very dear to my heart in the midst of this stress.

if i had other options, i would choose those first. but, unfortunately, i don’t. i don’t mean to sound like a bum asking y’all to help me financially or sub to my OF or whatever, but im kinda freaking out a little. so if anyone can help, even just an OF subscription, i would GREATLY appreciate it. even if it’s just for this month.

i feel so pathetic right now begging for help online, but hopefully my upfront honesty will relate to someone. sometimes saving is hard and i’m a blonde so ya know i can’t do math and idk im embarrassed. if anyone wants to buy a custom please message me on here or on OF if you’re subscribed. i’ll be putting in the work to try to bring y’all back and keep y’all satisfied. that’s a big priority for me and im sorry again to anyone who subbed to watch me eat at disneyland. i didn’t want to cancel that, but my dad was officially diagnosed with congestive heart failure on the day before i was supposed to fly down to LA and i couldn’t leave him. he’s put in the work to earn his spot back in my life and i couldn’t leave him the day he got that news. i love him and my mom despite any hardships and the last thing i could do was ditch him. i hope me being real helps you guys understand why i didn’t deliver on the disneyland content.

i understand if you are upset and you have every right to be! but i figured maybe being honest about what im going through could maybe help some of y’all build back trust with me. i feel very awkward and uncomfortable sharing such intimate information, but i think it’s what’s fair to all of you. thank you to all who have stuck around <3 and thank you to any/all who subscribe and/or send me money to help me out.

sending so much love to you all, as this has been a hard year for more people than just myself. the world needs a bit of honesty and transparency, and you all deserve that, so that’s what i’m going to give. <3

- Nico

[courtney-deserved-better]

o what about Izzy? Or Sammy. whichever one you want

i'll do both!

izzy

How I feel about this character

she's fun! i don't find her annoying, but i don't find her particularly interesting either. a good garnish to any td group dynamic.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

eva is the only one i can think of, but respect goes out to the courtizzy shippers

My non-romantic OTP for this character

team e-scope!!! would also love to know more about her friendship with sierra in between action and world tour

My unpopular opinion about this character

idk if this is necessarily unpopular, but i've found it hard to flesh out izzy in fic writing due to her one dimensionality* in canon

*technically not a word but i think it's fun

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

i would've loved to understand her thought process more in canon! like, why does she do the things she does beyond to be chaotic?

sammy

How I feel about this character

i like her! her story felt half baked but there were definitely glimmers of potential there.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

jasmine! i love jasammy. i don't usually poly ship but i can see jasmine dating sammy and shawn at the same time and sammy and shawn being buddies

My non-romantic OTP for this character

i can also see sammy being friends with jashawn! i liked the trio dynamic they had going on briefly

My unpopular opinion about this character

sammy is not as "soft uwu smol bean" as the fandom often makes her out to be. like, yes, she absolutely has self esteem issues and struggles to stand up against her sister's bullying, but let's also not forget she's devious. girl got her sister eliminated by manipulating her into eating a dangerous fruit, claimed her identity while her sister's throat swelled up, and then pretended to be her. and when amy showed up again, sammy got into a physical fight with her. like, it may take a push to get sammy to finally fight back, but she fights back!

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

i wish she'd gotten more screentime getting to be herself, but also with amy out of the picture. we only really see sammy when she's getting bullied by amy or pretending to be amy

[aflowerdrops]

Jackson/ever.rot on twin cities metalcore/hardcore scenes, his photography’s technicalities, and more | Interview

Pictured here: ostraca

Photographers are crucial to music scenes, they’ve been important before the advent of and with social media. Last week I had the pleasure of talking to Jackson / ever.rot on Instagram - he’s taken pics of Sunami, Saetia, Jeromes dream, and loads more cool bands. He also does urban/landscape photography. In this interview he talks local music, and dives into the details of how he achieves different looks in his photos - something you’ll definitely find interesting whether or not you’re into photography. He has selected a set of 20 pictures that show the different kinds of pictures he takes, which are included in this article. Keep reading to check them all out! And make sure you follow him on Instagram!! 

Hi there, thank you so much for doing this with me! Introduce yourself to our readers please.

Hi!! My name is Jackson. I’m also @ever.rot on instagram, that’s where I post all my weird, fucked up photos if you’re into that kinda thing. :D

How did you get into live music photography, and photography in general?

I got into photography through a friend I made as I was beginning to get into the local twin cities beatdown hardcore/metalcore scene after moving to Minneapolis (thanks Brett!!). I recently did some exploring with a group of friends all over the rotting state of New Jersey and started documenting everything we found. I wanted to chase this eerie look in the photos I took that I was able to get with just my phone, and after a two and a half hour conversation Brett sent me spiraling down a photography rabbit hole. Since I was already going to shows nonstop at that point and I had friends in bands, it only felt natural to try out concert photography.

Can you talk about your relationship to your local music scene? Did you grow up in/around it? What would you say makes it different from other scenes?

I really didn’t grow up with live music, so I’ve only really been truly seeking it out for the last year and a half or so. Between college and visiting family I’ve been split between the hardcore/metalcore and screamo scenes in both NJ/NYC and twin cities, Minneapolis and St Paul. I’ve met so many incredible people so far, and I’m hoping to make more of an impact as I figure out what the fuck I’m doing with my camera and fingers crossed if I finally get one of these bands I’ve been planning with friends off the ground. 

How do you think photographers contribute or maybe give back to a music scene?

I think while we (me especially) might get in the way here and there and might be a little distracting if we all decide to show up at once and there’s like 10 of us for no reason, photographers at their best are great for immortalizing moments that lets a show live on past the night doors opened. Everyone remembers that one 1988 Fugazi show in Philly because there’s a shot of Guy Picciotto dangling from that basketball hoop. 

bulletsbetweentongues, opposition dolls, grimlitter

Granted, most shots aren’t that iconic. My hope is that, despite the fact I might miss some great moments due to how I take photos and a soul crushing skill issue, I might be able to make that dream of being in a band with all your friends feel a little more real–just with whatever artsy bullshit I’m doing on top.  

The way you capture your subjects is really beautiful. Something about it makes the pictures feel so lively. I find that the energy in your work is super unique. What’s going through your head while you’re taking pictures at shows?

Thank you so much! That’s so sweet!!

Since my photos are so dependent on lighting and I haven’t really relied on flash for concert photography to date, I first focus on how I want to change my white balance settings and how I over/underexpose my photos to best make use of the light I’m given. 

Then, I typically focus on positioning myself where I can best compose my subjects, get compelling angles, and potentially capture something between members of the band or between the band and the crowd. 

jerome's dream, saetia

Last, I try to capture moments. Given how many on-the-fly plans and adjustments go into preparing and lining up my shots, I often just have to get lucky or adjust super fast to get a picture of a big moment if it doesn’t happen exactly where I’m preparing to take a photo.

Doing all of that manually at a show where my subjects are moving and I’m getting kicked in the head is honestly very mentally taxing but god do I love the challenge. 

You also take really cool pictures of landscapes. Are most of these taken where you live/grew up, how would you say that inspires and affects your work? How would you describe the difference between your mindset taking pictures at shows and taking pictures of landscapes?

The few landscape shots I’ve done were all out of a window of a car moving about 70 mph through Wisconsin on two separate roadtrips with no real tie to my past. What motivated me to take them was simply how beautifully desolate the state looked that spring. That’s what separates my band photography from most of the other photography. Whenever I’m not in a music venue, I’m typically seeking rot and decay, in whatever form that may take. 

You told me you don’t edit your pictures. Some of them have an analog/film look to them while some look more modern but they’re all really fucking awesome! How do you achieve/switch between those styles, in the technical sense? Can you describe your overall process for taking pictures, maybe talk about the gear you use? Feel free to include as much detail as you want — I’m sure there’s plenty of people reading who are into photography!!

Thank you!!

I think what separates the analog vs. modern look to any photo is just how I use the lighting conditions at any given venue.

I use a Nikon D100, one of Nikon’s first DSLRs from 2002, which I specifically bought for its old, beautiful CCD sensor and its poor noise reduction. Definitely not because I could find one for $55 on eBay. I essentially wanted something with a relatively high max ISO so I could drown my photos in as much noise as possible, and to date almost all of my photos are taken that way.

I use two lenses. My general purpose is an f/2.8 28mm manual focus Nikkor AIS that some photography forum thread from 2008 told me is Nikon’s best wide angle lens. I trust them. It’s old, made of metal, looks pretty, and survived getting lost and kicked around a Harvest pit. The other is a lensbaby composer with an edge 80[mm] optic, a tilt-shift lens that allows me to selectively focus on other things in frame that aren’t directly in the center of my viewfinder.

I manually adjust my shutter speed and aperture, and I manually focus, so I’ve got all the control to either succeed and capture something sick or fail and end up with an underexposed, out of focus mess. Lots of the latter. 

raein, sunami

As you said, I don’t edit any of my shots (besides adding white borders to fit an aspect ratio) so the appearance of a photo is influenced by choices made before and during the shot. 

As for my process, any band photography I do is reliant on the lighting at the venue I’m shooting at. I’ll typically start by trying to figure out how much I want to under/overexpose my photos, and adjust as needed throughout each set. I don’t use a light meter. Next, I’ll start looking for angles I find compelling. Throughout a show I’m constantly referencing the photos I’ve just taken on my little LCD screen for hints as to what I need to adjust to give me the best chance of getting a usable photo; that probably separates my process of taking photos from shooting film the most. At the moment, I tend to lean towards portraiture but in the future I’m trying to make an effort to capture more of the energy of the room.

(left to right) herlovebeheadsdaisies, knumears, my buddy eric, bloom dream, whenthedustsettles, datura dread, flooding, eyelet, newfound interest in connecticut

Thank you once again for doing this with me! I’m really excited to post this and showcase your work. Are there any projects (etc.) of yours that you wanna promote? And/or if you’re available for work (live show photography for example) feel free to mention that here.

Thank you for taking the time to put a spotlight on my work! At the moment, aside from whatever I end up posting on instagram, I don’t have any other projects to promote. As for work, I’m just an amateur photographer fucking around with a camera. If you like my work and want me to flick you up, dm or email me!! I’d love a photo pass at events.

Follow Jackson on Instagram - @ever.rot 

Written by Mio | aflowerdrdops. Follow us on Instagram and turn on notifs so you don’t miss an update! 

[dailyrandomwriter]

Day 878

I haven’t talked about Infinity Nikki in a long while, but that’s also because I have a blog for all the pictures I take. But in that blog, it’s more about the logistics and the ways a picture can be taken, because I find that very interesting.

However, I haven’t talked about the game itself in a long while, in large part because I am aware that people are (understandably) unhappy with the game. The game has had a lot of errors since the last update, and the fiasco, that was the gacha system did not help matters much.

But it hasn’t stopped me from playing the game, and it’s for two reasons. The first, and weirdly enough, the errors don’t bother me as much. Granted, I only play about an hour on average a night, because I don’t feel compelled to finish everything right this second. As a result, not being able to play for a night or two, doesn’t hugely bother me.

Though, the big reason why I am not upset at the company for the amount of trouble the update has gotten is… I suspect the company bit off more than they could chew. It is, my personal belief, that it never occurred to the company to make Infinity Nikki multiplayer or have a dyeing system. What that means is, those features should have been released in six months, maybe even next year. The company was so eager to please the fanbase that they released something that should have taken much longer to develop.

The dyeing system (shop mechanic aside) is nice and being able to play with @wereah on occasion is great, but… we didn’t need those features. They were nice features to have, but not necessary, and it could have waited. Now, part of it was probably due to the lackluster of the Revelry Season back in April, but all they needed to do was make a really compelling season, they didn’t have to give us those things.

As for the second reason why I still play, well… even though the company has done actions to prove that someone in the higher management was getting greedy, it doesn’t affect my enjoyment. Most of the things that they’re trying to do to squeeze money out of the player base are still, technically under, want but do not need.

To be clear, I’m still disappointed by their actions. I am not happy that they increased the max pulls required to earn a 5 star banner outfit, because my luck is shit and I will always probably hit that max. It was unnecessary to gate parts of the dyeing system behind evolutions, because frankly I don’t think it will encourage more players to try and get those evolutions. Because getting evolutions from limited banners is expensive…

But, because my primary enjoyment is taking pictures and dressing my character to look like one of my old role play characters from high school, I can’t be too angry. Especially since I’ve discovered that I don’t like to spend money directly on the gacha system.

I normally buy the monthly perks for that game instead, which allows me to purchase specific outfits and objects from the shop, and gives me a bit more spending money in the game. Last month, since it was my birthday, I set aside extra money to get crystals for the gacha system as a treat. In the end, I couldn’t bring myself to do it, and spent that money on new video games instead.

So, that’s why I still play this game, despite the issues it currently has. I do hope the team will get their footing and learn from their mistakes. Though, I will remind people that the developers, and the higher management that run the company are two different entities.

[xxscarletxrosexx]

Addressing Watermarks on Official Merch Scans -- A Post Made to EDUCATE

I never thought this would need to be addressed, but I think to ignore this would do me injustice as someone who works in education. This message, at its core, is to educate, not attack anyone in particular.

I used to think how silly it was that people used watermarks on pictures and art, but after spending decades in multiple fandom groups, I learned that people are simply too lazy to find the source and credit accordingly and/or want the glory/validation that comes from claiming that particular art/picture as theirs.

I've had a picture stolen once, too. It was a picture of a mannequin that reminded me of Slender Man. I posted it on a public social media app just for laughs, and somehow, that picture ended up becoming a small meme. It WASN'T a huge meme, but it made its way to a niche of Slender Man memes. I haven't received credit for that picture and probably never will. The reason is that this picture was taken over a decade ago, so finding the source would be difficult for me to scroll through the app. Furthermore, I can't show proof that I have the original picture since it was from an old phone that I no longer owned. I had the picture backed up on an external hard drive, but it was deleted when the memory got wiped when I was dealing with a virus. Ultimately, I'm not here to air out my grievance for this picture, but I take it as a lesson to myself that I should be careful next time if I want to post a picture on the internet.

This now brings me to the present-day issue: why did I watermark my scans?

As you read from my previous experience, it's because people DON'T credit or share the source.

I am very much aware that this particular design of the Forgers is very rare to come by. The official art was posted by the official website, but it was never addressed again (I know because I am dying to have acrylic stands of this design). As of today, I tried to look for this specific design and the following images showed up when I spent the past 10 minutes scrolling:

If you were to click the link for the merch (middle image), you would find that the website is unavailable. So, yes, to find this design on a merch was INCREDIBLY lucky on my part. Now, I wasn't expecting to find this at Waku Waku Park, nor was it my mission to find this specific art during the duration of my trip. It just so happened to be at the shop. To my knowledge, other official SxF merch--other than the Waku Waku Park merch--supposedly changes. I compared my experience with two SxF moots who went in December (Ikebukuro/Tokyo location) and 1 week (Osaka location) before me, and they both don't recall finding this design during their visits to Waku Waku Park (I mean, justified because it's been ages ago). As a result, this makes this merch all the more difficult to find.

Technically, I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the merchandise when I was at the shop. I was approached by a store clerk after I had already completed taking pictures of every merch available at the shop. She was limited in her English but crossed her index fingers and told me: "Pictures prohibited." I have not, nor do I plan to, share merch pictures, hence why I edited to the clear file folders to show proof that I was there.

The reason why I am so hell-bent on having my watermark on MY PICTURES and MY SCANS is because of the amount of time, effort, and money I invested into getting it.

Just to give you guys an idea of how expensive it was:

$1,500 was spent on a 9-day round-trip ticket to Japan.

$180 was lost to an overnight night bus from Tokyo to Osaka that I didn't end up riding due to rushing and booking the wrong date. I was not allowed to cancel or refund.

$100 was spent on an airplane ticket from Tokyo to Osaka.

$90 was spent on a shinkansen (bullet train) from Kyoto to Tokyo (we took a fast metro ride from Osaka to Kyoto).

$100 was spent on a last-minute B&B in Osaka.

$50 was spent on Waku Waku Park tickets that came with merchandise (I paid for my friend's ticket as well as my own).

$12 (est.) was spent on purchasing this clear file folder.

Over $350 was spent on purchasing merch from Waku Waku Park alone.

$60 was invested in purchasing a scanner just to scan a high-quality image of this clear file for my friend, and anyone else who'd appreciate seeing this product.

To share how much time and effort it took to get to purchasing this:

My friend and I weren't able to book events for the trip despite purchasing our tickets 2 months in advance. Our jobs and schedules prevented us from meeting up and planning out places where we'd like to visit. As a result, many of our planned trips were booked days before we went, such was the case with Waku Waku Park. We literally bought the tickets the night before.

The flight, night bus, and shinkansen tickets from Tokyo to Osaka and from Kyoto to Tokyo were purchased the day before we bought the tickets, which was during our bus ride trip to Mount Fuji.

When purchasing tickets for Waku Waku Park, my SxF moots recommended I purchase online or at Lawson--I did the latter. For whatever reason, I just couldn't purchase the tickets online, so I went to Lawson and found a machine that sells general tickets to the public. I recall this experience being so frustrating because they did have an English translation option for the homepage ONLY. Once I clicked the platform that sold Waku Waku Park tickets, all text went back to Japanese. I couldn't read it, so I had to contact my SxF moot (who was fortunately still in Japan and went through this experience like me AND could read and speak in Japanese) explain to me what I was looking at. I also used Google Lens to help make sense of whatever I was reading. I probably spent over 10 minutes trying to figure that shit out until the shop clerk finally came over to see if he can help me complete the form and check out my purchase (poor kid didn't know English but we somehow managed).

When my friend and I arrived in Osaka, we had forgotten to book a B&B since we knew that there was a high likelihood that we'd stay overnight. I purchased a 1-day Osaka trip pass, assuming that we'd be able to go to every place offered on the list, but nope, my friend crashed after Waku Waku Park. As a result of booking so early in the morning, we were fortunate to have found a B&B that was ready by 1 PM (?) maybe 3 PM (?). I can't remember other than the fact that when I requested if we could come early, they told me we couldn't come until check-in time. So, we went to ATC Gallery (Waku Waku Park) with our luggages (fortunately, they were light but it was a nuisance to have carried it around). We were also fortunate that ATC Gallery, when arriving to the building via metro station, had a locker that could fit our luggage--so thank goodness we didn't have to carry it during the exhibit.

We learned that once you exit the exhibit--which means you exit the merch shop--you are NOT allowed to come back in. Even, when your companion was still inside, you couldn't go back in. My friend left the merch shop since there were no places for her to sit and wait for me. So she stepped out of the shop. Apparently, there are gates with workers preventing people from re-entering. And so, when I experienced problems with my card, I called my friend to have her lend me her credit card. That's when we experienced that problem. The officer was kind enough to allow my friend to hand me her card so that I could pay for my haul of merch. But imagine, if we both left the shop to go to a store to withdraw money? There was no Lawson store nearby so we'd have to take the metro and find one, buy a ticket, return to the venue, go through the exhibit AGAIN (I probably would have to repeat playing the minigames, collecting stamps, and having my photo taken out of courtesy rather than rushing through the exhibit), and then finally arrive at the merch shop. But considering the time we entered the park around 1:30 PM and spent 2 hours in the park, I believe that it would have ended with a very tight schedule (the park closes at 6:00 PM) and a very unhappy companion.

In conclusion, removing my watermarks means you (the watermark remover) discredit me and disrespect all of my time, effort, and money I invested just to get a high-quality scan of this clear file just for you to enjoy looking at and most likely saving it to your collection of SxF images. You are also a THIEF for not only stealing my scanned image and re-uploading my scan with a horrible cut and my watermarks removed with AI, but also for the fact that you DID NOT pay for a round-trip ticket to Japan, you DID NOT pay for your own ticket to Waku Waku Park, you DID NOT purchase this clear file yourself, and you DID NOT spend money on a scanner to get this high-quality image to post on the internet.

I know that this is MY SCANNED image of the official art because I can see ghost texts of my watermark between Loid and Yor and near Anya's finger and Bond's forehead. I can see the residual cut off of the weird light-blue scan found near Loid's head. The most obvious is that the red leaf between Yor and Loid was horribly "removed" by AI (dear, I use AI to edit out people from my photos, it doesn't take a trained and perfectionist eye to notice something looks fucked up).

Below is an example of me using AI, and this is not how it should look without people. There was a clear pathway behind the people but AI decided to cover it with grass. Keep in mind that to arrive to THIS AI edit, it took me over an hour to repeat the removal process since AI's edit is RANDOM every time. I am an extreme perfectionist, so I tend to waste hours on end to find AI edits that look convincing (I'm not gonna bother putting a watermark on this because my face is there).

Furthermore, as far as I'm aware (at this current time), I know that my scan is the only one that has resurfaced this image. The official merch image of this design is quite difficult to find and reference. I would've sourced it by now if I had already found it, but I've spent 6 hours writing this entire post as is and still couldn't find it.

The person who shared the removal of my watermark on Twitter/X was unaware of the importance for watermarking scans and had been cooperative by taking down her original post. I have provided a post to my scans on Twitter/X here, and a link to the original source found on my Ko-Fi shop. I currently have no beef with her, nor am I attacking her with this post. What she had presented to me was an opportunity to educate.

If you're looking for official merch that do not have watermarks slashed across their products, then your best bet is to find them from official merch websites and/or official merch images. Obviously, they want you to purchase their products. Second, they have the legal rights and trademark (TM) to flex that they own it, so I highly doubt anyone would go out of their way to edit an official work and claim it as their image.

My experience alone confirms that had I not put a watermark on my scan, I would have definitely gotten this scan stolen. As far as I'm aware, my scan is the ONLY ONE (at this current moment) that pops up in Google searches. It pops up via Tumblr from @yumeka-sxf Spy x Family miscellaneous collab scans - part 3 post.

I'm so grateful to have received advice from @yumeka-sxf because she encouraged me to protect my scans having experienced multiple thefts from her oldest scanned images in the past.

TLDR; Don't remove people's watermarks on scanned pictures (especially if they're put on official merch). We have the right to post watermarks on our pictures/scans because we spent ungodly time and effort to find them, spent money to purchase them, scanned/took high-quality pictures of them, and kindly shared our collection(s) FOR FREE for people to enjoy, share the experience, and/or inspire them to purchase one themselves. Unfortunately, the decision to put watermarks over purchased merch is because there are people who are willing to do whatever it takes to edit out credit and watermarks found in corners or in open spaces to claim ownership of the image. I have also seen merchants' product pictures being stolen by other sellers who just happen to have the same product (yes, I'm calling Ebay and Mercari out). That's why there are sellers who take pictures of their products next to their usernames.

If you have read everything until the very end, you have my gratitude. I hope that this post has been educational in helping everyone become aware that watermarks are used to credit people's time, effort, and money to share high-quality scans/pictures of official merch that they purchased. The reason you can see it is because of their efforts to share it.

[major-and-allat]

Hey I made an oc or something

He's a null recolor + accessory add-on

Pictures:

(Warning below some content is sensitive)

Here's some jibber jabber about him:

So this Sniper. He's a school shooter technically (sorry lol) only he stays lurking outside the school and in the basement. If he comes across a kid he usually has his gun on him, in which he will take action and shoot with if the kid doesn't leave. If he doesn't have his gun he will shoo the kid away. If it's one of the staff members (Baldi, mrs. Pomp, ect) he'll avoid shooting them because he says he'll "deal with consequences after". He is around 25 and he doesn't like not even an inkling of one person in the school. He often gets agitated because why not, and is often sarcastic and rude.

Backstory (again, sensitive content):

Sniper used to be human. He was a decently normal kid who had a keen interest in guns and fights and stuff. He helped out around the school even when he graduated because why not. Due to some issues regarding the Principal and Baldi, he was turned into a glitch entity by the time he was 25 and hasn't aged since. Because of his agitation towards the terrible event Baldi and Principal have laid out upon him, he basically returned to his idea of guns and became a school shooter to "get back" at the two. But his plan never works and he just happens to be a pesty yet slightly dangerous dude.

I posted him on my TT and he got fanart 😭

That's all i have to share with this goober

[mysmorgasbordoffantabulosa]

“I didn't, I just did a quick search and found some posts about it that gave extra context to the situation.”

Oh so you agree you didn’t do your due diligence either but weren’t these your own words? ““I love it when certain people asking me something without taking time to do some research or even waiting 24hours before making a comment....”??? Funny.

“Because everytime any member has don't anything private/personal we very rarely find out about it and they clearly go to great measures to hide their personal trips.”

Well it may surprise you to know that idols don’t have any other separate entrance to get to the airport. Sometimes fans spot them sometimes they don’t. So it’s not like they make any extra efforts to not be seen.

“errr… GCF TOKYO? JK's trip to Hawaii when Tae asked him to come, RM's multiple personal trips to Switzerland and Brian and his friend going to Jeju.”

I really think it would do you some good to really try to do some research before you confidently make these posts lol. Well fyI, there are pictures and videos of Jimin and Jungkook at the airport with some of their family when they travelled to Japan in 2017 so you are wrong there. They were seen. Also one would think since you are a taekooker you would have more information about your ship but apparently you don’t. Jk was actually seen travelling to Hawaii by multiple people back in 2023. He was seen both at the airport in Korea and when he arrived Hawaii. People talked about it but no one had any photos so it was dismissed. So you see? He was seen after all.

When vminkook went to Jeju for AYS it wasn’t a private trip and they were with loads of personelle right? Now tell me if they were spotted at the airport? They weren’t. My point is, private schedule or not, they aren’t always spotted. It’s not like they make any extra efforts not to be seen when it’s private lol.

“No I haven't seen bodyguards on trips/holidays probably because he doesn't take them, like when he's going out with 97 line to resturants etc”

Which of his private trips have you seen? So you think seeing a single photo or short video gives you all the context? Funny. Also going with his friends to restaurants is not a trip. Lol

“We have no actual proof that JK went with security but Tae was there for business and personal stuff as I recall, so for some of that would had some security… perhaps all of it.”

Well having no proof of something doesn’t mean ur didn’t happen does it?

“You've already bloody asked 4 questions already lol!”

“Technically that's a question but you forget the question mark… so 3 questions.”

Love the way you are avoiding the questions lol.

“I can only see two men behind Brian. and they are clearly with him as they are standing. The one that appears to be JK's manager (with the bag) and JK and the guy JK has his arm around are clearly walking in one direction almost like they are heading someone, but it looks like they were intercepted.”

Wow! lol you need to improve your skills.

“The maanager just looks like he walked past Brian and turned around, almost like he hadn't realised he was there until someone - perhaps JK who knows - pointed him out. Oh by the way that was question 4 of supposedly just one question.”

lol. I know you don’t believe this. So why didn’t Jm say hi to Jk and the manager too? He just ignored them just to say hi to the unidentified person walking with jk? Lol

“Whilst I may not always agree with Brian fans on many issues I know they are very diligent and dedicated to their man to the point they practically nearly always are right when it comes to his schedule. So yeah I trust them on this one particular point. Oh and did I mention, that was another question.”

Did you even bother to check for the original source of the rumor? It never started from Jimin’s solo stans. It started from one of those numerous prediction accounts on twitter. You know one of the ones which predicted Jk being with Winter. Still believe them? And Jm solos stated repeating it because they hate Jk and don’t want Jm being around him not because they knew themselves lol.

“Nearly every time that Brimothys have have claimed something that contradicts Brian stan claims about Brian's whereabouts, 9 times out 10 Brian stans are usually right. As I said they can be very single minded in that regard.”

Give 2 examples lol.

“From what I see online, Brimothys have a tendancy to over exaggerate, expand the truth and even flat out lie about events like this, and in most cases are eventually proven wrong.”

Sure and taekookers don’t? How many times have taekookers gotten egg on their faces for making shit up or running with anything they see or hear? don’t be a hypocrite please.

“Those type of accounts that post flight information are generally considered sasaengs, and even if they were a taekooker I'd still consider them as such.”

Well I don’t really care how you see those kind of people. They being a taekooker and a Jimin hating one at that already puts a dent in their motives don’t you think?

“Another question BTW! but most likely they were seen by BTS fans, duh.”

So you don’t even have firsthand information but just going by the words of what this person said? Ok do you have any screenshots or links showing where these so called BTS fans talked about this ? I would like to see.

“They posted departure times and destinations what more do you want? rhetorical question BTW”

Lmaoo. They posted that Jungkook left at 10:40 but according to flight info from that day no flights were scheduled to leave for NY at 10:40 am lol. Also you don’t know anyone can literally make up flight dates and times? And also, how would they know what flight jk got on? Did they follow him through the gate? Even if the saw him go to a particular terminal they cannot know for sure what flight or time he got so what are you talking about?

“I hold my hands up, I now know that was not RM. It was any easy mistake to make considering the guy in question was clearly wearing a baseball cap thus hiding the potential hair.”

Well wrong again. The guy wasn’t wearing a baseball cap. You really need to work on your observational skills. They are subpar.

“Am I? How? He has in the past gone to Switzerland regularly without staff on holiday. I was mere theorising.”

How would you know he was without staff? So you were merely theorizing and speaking so confidently? Wow!

“By the way where did RM go? OH yeah Switzerland on official BH business. So if RM did go to Zurich, Switzerland and we know based on some posts online that JK is in New York. Mmm I wonder where Brian is??? So far those posts from fans have gotten 2 out 3 right.”

Wrong! We don’t know RM is in Switzerland thanks to post online. We all found out he was in Switzerland because HE posted it on his instagram story. So your so called sources didn’t find that information. RM himself let us know he was there.

In truth, you got nothing right. You didn’t find out about RM, he posted it. When Jungkook left, fans theorized he was going to the US but most thought he was going to LA until someone apparently said he was sighted at the airport in NY. We can confirm now that he is there because DJ snake confirmed it and not because you were right about it. Fans actually got it wrong. So no, you were wrong there.

Yes there is still a question mark on where Jimin is, he could be in London or be in NY, we would find out in the future so stop speaking in absolutes about things you don really know about.

“I'd say so far I'm being proved right. More questions though, I thought you just had one?”

Nope. You’ve been proven nothing but wrong about almost everything you said.

“Well we know JK in NY”

Well jk travelled to NY on the 16th. Jk snake confirms it on the 18th. 2 whole days after but sure you knew he was there. Also see the way that fan said Jk is in America and not NY? That is because they didn’t know for sure what city jk was in. Jk snake said he knows Jk is in America but didn’t specify NY! You see?

“We still have yet to discover if Brian is in London/Europe but if I were a betting man I'd say he's probably there, probably recording music”

Ofcourse you would.

Why is it people like you can't be more succinct and stick to a few paragraphs, than trying (and failing) to write like it's a f'ing university thesis or something.

Also, since my mother past away I have so little patience for this kind shit and with your drivel I gave up after reading a few paragraphs.

And with that I'm not even gonna respond...

Finally, if you choose to irritate the fuck out of me again with another long winded rant then you discover you'll be waiting til the twelfth of never for my response.

[oneatlatime]

The Storm

This post was delayed due to dumbass technical issues. I managed to save it from annihilation by the skin of my teeth, and learned an important lesson about saving drafts along the way.

Long time no blog. As it's currently storming where I am, I feel it's time to watch this one.

Aang in the opening credits has his tongue out like a dog on a car ride. Now picturing a car full of airbenders hanging their heads out the window.

It's been long enough since I watched one of these that I forgot that dream sequences tend to be tinted brown. Had a two second panic trying to remember the episode where Sokka learned airbending.

I wanted to see more of Gyatso but not like this!

Appa the morning person.

Hey Zuko's back. Haven't seen him in a few episodes. Pipi Longstocking hair is still doing him no favours. Also is he really pale this episode?

I feel like Zuko's intelligence varies wildly from episode to episode (usually to serve the plot) but this may be a new depth of dumbness: tell the crew to their faces that their lives don't matter. You know, the crew that prevents the thing you're standing on in the middle of the ocean from sinking. The crew that keeps you fed and actually going somewhere. That crew.

On the other hand, Zuko's method for creating mutiny may break a world record for efficiency. He's such a dumb smart guy.

I'm with Katara on this one. I don't like that swishing either. And if they're out of money, why were they in a market anyway?

And with a kick to the rear, this episode's 'violence towards Sokka for laughs' quota is filled.

Never before in the history of humanity's hubristic quest to tame the seas has a wharf ever been this clean.

And I'm with the crewman on this one too. Zuko's actions really do line up with him not caring about anything beyond his own concerns.

Talk about rock and a hard place for Iroh here. From what I've gathered, it's Zuko's ship, which means that Zuko's in charge of everything including keeping order. But, Zuko is also being unreasonable in the face of a very reasonable complaint from the crew. So Iroh has to pacify both while undermining neither, and not appear to be in command. Takes delicacy.

Appa gets a mooring! Also what is that cave back there?

I was hoping the show would bring this up! To anyone who isn't riding along on Aang's adventures, it sure does look like the Avatar disappeared when he was needed most, continued to stay gone no matter how bad things got, and then just reappeared randomly one day with seemingly no plan to set set things right. Did he reappear to fight the firelord? According to rumour, he reappeared to ride giant koi. What would the average person be left thinking? The fisherman is right. And Katara - will you please let Aang fight his own battles for once in his life?

Aang being the bravest person you know? Do you not remember this?

You know, this?

"That fisherman was way out of line."

Poor guy needs a blow dry. Should be possible, what with airbending and all. Didn't know that Appa had a goatee. Actually the facial hair in general in this show is pretty creative.

If this is going to be the exposition dump storytelling episode, we may all need an emotional support Momo.

These air scooter shenanigans are making me think that the first lesson airbenders learn is how to nullify motion sickness.

Is this the first airbending we see by someone that isn't Aang or Appa?

Someone's been taking fashion tips from Narcissa Malfoy.

Oh fuck off that's too much pressure for a kid. Nice Wisteria though.

Isn't the toys thing a thing in the real world? Something to do with the Dalai Lama?

If Avatars have to be told that they're the Avatar, that implies that they don't know instinctively. Theoretically, could an isolated avatar living in peace time go their whole lives without figuring it out?

Oh wise and learned council of airbenders, please tell me how relying on a 12 year old is going to save you from a war?

Baby Zuko! Baby scarless Zuko! He looks like just the prettiest little princess in these shots. Also, either this happened not all that long ago, or Zuko is majorly overdue a growth spurt, because he's maybe one inch shorter in this flashback. Also also, Pipi Longstocking hair doesn't work no matter how much hair you have to put up. Also also also, the whole reverse tonsure look he has going on in the present really downplays how round his face is. He's got chubby baby cheeks. Also also also also, if Zuko is as much of a prince as his title implies, he's right that he needs to know how to rule.

I have picked up over the course of this show the fact that the fire nation seems to prioritise aesthetic. But this is just ridiculous. And a bit on the nose too. A literal wall of fire dividing you from the commoners? Not even the commoners, the highly esteemed generals in charge of your war? How does this guy see or hear anything that's going on?

Katara asking Aang why he wouldn't be excited about being the Avatar seems out of character for me. Why exactly would he be excited about being catapulted to the number one spot on the fire nation's 'enemies of the state' list? It's not like Katara doesn't know what happens to people on that list.

Don't worry about these jerks. They'll all be immolated in a little bit.

Smelly kid jokes. That's some peak 90s comedy right there.

I love Gyatso. Solidly in Aang's corner and happy to advocate for his charge even against grumpy temple elders. Never loses sight of the fact that Aang is just a boy and needs balance.

This Zuko disrespecting old farts stuff is nonsense. Like when you get called in to HR for 'walking disrespectfully past Sherri's desk' or 'aggressive choice of footwear' and you know it's just because they're looking for a bullshit reason to fire you/force you to quit because the owner's nephew wants your job and they don't want to pay for severance or unemployment. If pointing out obvious flaws in objectively stupid plans is an offence worthy of an honour duel (I'm not even going to try and spell the actual name), then this guy needs to be dueled too:

He called bullshit too.

No

No no they're not actually going to

oh fuck no

hang on he doesn't have his scar yet is this going where I think it's going?

Back to idiot monks phew. Another rock and a hard place situation. Aang needs to be a normal 12 year old. The world needs a fully trained Avatar. The best they can do is a half trained 12 year old avatar. That would have ended well I'm sure.

Oh yeah just yank out the remainders of Aang's support system. That will certainly encourage him to quickly develop into a responsible adult, rather than an emotionally disturbed 12 year old with unmatchable uncontrolled powers. What were these monks thinking? Or were they thinking at all? Were they just panicking? Because only Gyatso seems to have his head on straight. Upset avatars destroy things - we've SEEN that - and these monks think the best way to turn Aang into the Avatar they need is to do something that will upset him probably more than any other possible thing? At least they didn't think to take away Appa too.

Katara's right. He does have a right to be angry. I like that this show gives the characters permission to feel.

Indulging my inner pedant for a minute, he never saw Gyatso alive again. His bones were in pretty good condition. Actually, given that firebenders killed him, why weren't his bones covered in scorch marks? Also, is that where all the other airbender skeletons went? Instant cremation?

The fisherman's right - the avatar did turn his back on the world. Aang's right - he did run away. Katara's right - not running away wouldn't have saved anyone. Kudos to a kids' show for not flinching from tackling topics that have no right answers. Yay nuance!

oh god here we go

Free life tip: If you ever see a dependent and/or child assume this position at the feet of their guardian, call the relevant authorities. Quickly.

And of course there's a crowd of hundreds too. Nothing like a little public mutilation of children to flex your power over the masses. This firelord's ego is so fragile.

So that's where the scar comes from. Also the firelord's line about learning respect casts a new light on when Zuko said he'd teach respect to the crewman at the beginning of the episode. Guess he was channelling the firelord.

Big repsect to Zuko for the above. He's never lacked in bravery. This is the opposite of the "shameful weakness" nonsense.

"Things will never return to normal." THANK YOU

Why is Zuko in such a hurry to go home to that anyway? Seems like the only person who likes him is his uncle, and he's travelling with him.

This is odd. I've always felt like I know Aang, and hearing his story this episode just confirms that I do know him, who he is, what makes him tick. And it lets me know him better. I've deepened an already deep understanding of who he is. However, I thought I had a surface (if jumbled) understanding of Zuko, but hearing his story this episode, and especially the final series of shots, the way they frame him as alone in darkness contrasted with brightly lit memories, makes me sure that I've never known Zuko at all. Who is this guy? I feel like this is meeting him for the first time.

There's also definitely something worth examining in the fact that Aang tells his own story but Iroh tells Zuko's (beyond the fact that Aang is the only person left who could tell his story).

Thank god some comic relief. Not a moment too soon.

I didn't know firebenders could do that. Judging by his face, I don't think he did either.

The judgmental energy in this shot is unparalleled.

"I'm not but I still don't wanna!" This old couple has some seriously good lines.

Appa saves the day once again, this time with an assist from the Avatar powers. I swear if Appa's existence was paired with Sokka's brain they could do the Avatar's job no problem.

Zuko apologises. That is good. But is it Iroh he should be apologising to?

"I'm here now and I'm going to make the most of it." A lovely message to conclude a show on. But are we going to gloss over the whole 'father mutilates his son BARELY offscreen' thing?

Appa shakes!

Final Thoughts

This section could very easily devolve into increasingly hysterical ranting about the whole ZUKO JUST GOT HALF HIS FACE BURNED OFF AS A FORM OF COURT ENTERTAINMENT thing. Lord have mercy the fire nation is fucked up. To prevent that, I am going to share one thought, and only one thought on that fiasco:

this is the first time I've really felt that I'm not the target audience of this show. If I had seen this at 8 or 10 years old, I would have been appropriately mad at the firelord for doing such a bad thing, but it would have made perfect sense, because he's a bad guy, and they have to do bad guy things. It's what makes them bad guys. As an adult, with more knowledge in general, but especially about things like power dynamics and the long term consequences of child abuse, I am valiantly fighting not to spiral down a path of horrific implications because I want to be able to sleep tonight. From both a political and a familial point of view, there was no one (who wasn't 12 and frozen) who could have stepped in. It was the firelord who did it; it appears that there is no one above him in the fire nation hierarchy. It's Zuko's father who did it; good luck getting a kid to stand up to a father in front of an audience of hundreds in a culture that obviously worships a bastardised concept of respect (zuko tried though). Iroh couldn't (or wouldn't) interfere on either political or familial grounds. As an adult, seeing a child (because Zuko may be 16 in the show but that boy kneeling is BABY) stuck in such a situation, knowing there's literally no way to get out of it, no hero going to swoop in and save the day, no judicial process to dish out consequences, well that's hard to watch. And that's all I'll say about that.

Here's a thought: did the avatar (not Aang, but the figure/concept of the Avatar) disappearing fail Zuko, and by extension the fire nation, as much as it failed the other three nations? And the natural follow-along to that thought: did the fire nation attacking the rest of the world hurt the fire nation as much as it hurt the rest of the world?

Aang made a mistake many years ago by running away. He gets to redeem himself by not running away and saving Sokka and the fisherman. Zuko made a mistake at the beginning of the episode by undervaluing the lives of his crew (to their faces, no less). He gets to redeem himself by saving the helmsman and letting the Avatar pass in favour of getting the crew to safety. But I don't think these stories are really parallel. Aang's natural impulse was the mistake. He learned from it, modified his behaviour, and did better the next chance he got. Zuko's natural impulse was to act as he should have. He was taught (violently) that this was incorrect behaviour, and modified his behaviour based on his father's teachings. This modification (not valuing the crew) is the mistake. In Zuko's case, learning from the experience and modifying his behaviour actually means unlearning the lesson he was taught and reverting to his former behaviour. Aang's natural state needed modification; Zuko's externally imposed behaviour needed to be forgotten. Not parallel.

Aang = hope is an interesting conclusion. It's only possible for him to represent hope because he dashed everyone's hopes by disappearing and staying gone. If the avatar had defeated the fire nation 100 years ago and prevented a war from ever happening, he would not have been a symbol of hope. I don't know what he would have been a symbol of, but it's the fact that he's been gone long enough for things to get really bad that makes him a symbol of hope in the present. So if Aang was always meant to be hope, then he was always meant to get frozen.

Aang = hope is also interesting in that it positions Zuko on the side of the enemies of the fire nation. If Aang represents hope to the world, and Aang represents hope to Zuko, then Zuko is not on the Fire Nation side of the conflict (whether he knows it or not).

The humour in this episode was minimal but very welcome. The old couple was heaps of fun, Sokka got a couple of good lines (although never enough - still waiting on a Sokka episode), and the juxtaposition of humour and very serious themes was artfully handled. It was never jarring or tonally off. The switching back and forth between the two story threads was well done too, especially how they tied in at the end.

I'm kind of annoyed that Katara got relegated to shouty defender of the actually-a-little-bit-guilty or Agony Aunt. She deserves better. I'm not at all annoyed that Momo filled the role of cuddle administration. That was lovely to see.

It didn't even occur to me to check if the art/animation in this episode was pretty. That's usually a primary concern with me, but I was too wrapped up in the plot to notice.

I can't believe a kids' show went there, but they did. And they did it well. This episode felt much longer than 20-ish minutes, in a good way. It was packed. Definitely going on my rewatch list.

[alpaca-clouds]

This ain't Accessibility

I am on my way back from a convention. The first I have been on since I became actually disabled. Now, personally I am fine on most days. Due to my main issue going away with medication, and me only having to take care to drink and eat well, I am fine. While stairs are hard for me, they are not an impossible obstacle.

However, man... I got annoyed. The convention was advertised as "accessible". And technically it was clear with this they either way only meant "accessible for wheelchairs", which is not... accessibility.

But also the wheelchair accessibility was kinda... doubtful.

Let me paint you a picture:

If you got to the place where the convention was being held, you arrived on a sandy, rocky open space. It was navigable by wheelchair, but I saw several people struggle with it. And then there was the building. A hall.......... that was accessible via chair. If you stood in front of it, it was not obvious where the fuck folks with wheelchairs (or for that matter kids in strollers and the liek) were supposed to go.

I saw several people (remember, most people in wheelchairs can stand) opt for "somehow climb those darn stairs and ask someone to carry their wheelchair".

Now, I eventually found out what the "accessibility" meant: there was an elevator in the very back of the building. There were a couple hidden signs noting this, even. HOWEVER... normal guests could not use that elevator. So, if you needed that elevator, you needed to get someone from the staff who had a chair for that elevator and then ask them to call the elevator for you.

How in the flying fuck is that allowed to call itself accessibility?!

Like, sure... A determined soul could get inside somehow. But... Y'all, this ain't it.

Also, obviously... No other kind of disability had been accounted for in the planning. And: A variety of convention areas were completely inaccessible via wheelchair.

Worst of all: In Germany disability has a grading system for disabilities (basically 0-100). And while most events give disabled people discounts on the entrance fee, this place had put the scale at "75+" (which is fairly high - most places put it at 50 or 60) or "B" (blind people). No, there was no discount for people with a G (walking disabilities, even though those people could definitely not access about 20% of the event without problems).